Seer's Handbook
by lisalilsis
Summary: Rose Hathaway is one of the outcasts of the school, looked down and ignored by everyone except her best friend Christian But Rose might not be as ignored as she thought. The new boy, Dimitri, has his eyes trained on her. But Rose has a secret. Her dreams are telling her something. She is seeing someone get killed by the thing she's convinced herself is not real. All human.
1. Chapter 1

"Why did you bring me here?" Natalie's voice cut through the room. Her hand skimmed the top of the armoire caking her fingers in dust.

The walls were chipped, cracking in several areas, and oozed the faded gray paint. There was no sign that this room had been used recently. It was layered in dust that tickled my nose and filled my lungs. The only door was clattered in graffiti, nearly invisible behind the scratches.

Natalie's eyes darted nervously around the room. The glow from the candlelight illuminated her face, showing the weariness sketched plainly on it.

Her eyes settle on the haunted eastern wall. The candles covered every inch of the room except a small circular path in the middle of the cement floor. The light was blinding but I was shocked to see a figure, shrouded in darkness, against the wall. It appeared to be a silhouette, a shadow.

The heat inside the enclosed space caused sweat to dampen my forehead. Wax and crumbling wall filled the air.

I watched the figure approach Natalie. His stance was predatory like a tiger circling his prey. He was tall but he kept close to the wall—away from the light—so that I couldn't see his face. His shoulder made a rustling sound against the wall.

The shadow—for he was still a shadow to me—gripped Natalie's shoulders and pinned her against the wall with an audible thump that brought dust flying in every direction. He leaned in toward her neck and breathed her in. The scene seemed strangely intimate, I felt like an intruder for being there.

His hands were on the wall trapping her in that position. With the candles on the floor their feet seemed to be dancing in fire. Her face had a reddish glow from the reflection but his was strangely still shadowed.

He let one arm fall and reached slowly behind him.

"What is it?" Natalie replied hoarsely. Mischief sparkled in her eyes. I was surprised she wasn't worried about having sneaked out. All her face showed was elation.

Natalie had never sneaked out; she was always too scared about the consequences. But I guess there was something about rebelling with a guy that held her appeal.

In the moonlight a dreary room could be transformed into a lover's palace, I suppose. Mix in candle light and you have a fairy tale worthy getaway.

She looped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his chest. Her neck tilted upward in serenity.

I saw the glint before I realized what it was. The light had reflected perfectly in that moment against an object in his hands. He held it professionally by the handle, and before I could scream he gave one swift jab against the pulse in Natalie's neck.

She didn't even see it coming. As her body slumped onto the gray floor, knocking over several candles, her face still held that peaceful look of serenity. A light smile was on her lips, a ghost of the happiness she was feeling.

I looked in panic towards the door. How long would it take me to run to it? How long before he caught up to me? The chances weren't in my favor. I was never the fastest runner. And with his tall stature, he would surely out run me.

He had his back to me and dragged Natalie to the circle. I couldn't move. Fear clogged every one of my pores. What would he do with me? Was I to take part in this as well? Did he need two young teenage girls, was that the point.

I didn't want to figure it out if that was the plan.

He didn't seem to notice me; he just kept on working, as if no one was there, as if I didn't exist.

He spread Natalie out on the circle and leaked her dripping blood onto a bowl.

The scene was too much for me. I ran like a fool to the door. My hand reached out to grab the rusted doorknob but they caught hold of soft plush instead.

I jumped into a sitting position; sweat dripped down my face and drenched my shirt. I recognized the baby blue walls even in my darkened haze.

I had a fist full of my Elmo doll, which I'm sad to admit I still sleep in, and felt myself immediately relax.

It was just a dream, a horrible nightmare. But this one was clearer I could almost see his face.

* * *

I searched around my room for my favorite jeans. They were worn, ripped and had coffee mug stains on it. I'd bought them when I was thirteen and amazingly they still fit.

I spotted them under my bed and stooped down to pick them up. I quickly slipping them on; nearly tripping in the process.

I ran a hand across my hair and felt my curly mess. It was tangled in its usual thick snarls ensnared within layer of dark hair that only a flame thrower or a battle ax had any chance at fixing.

I put it up in a sloppy bun not even bothering to make it look better. It was too much hassle that I really didn't need.

As soon as I was somewhat acceptable I half stumbled down the stairs, my eyes more asleep than awake. I had to reach out and feel my way to the kitchen. Flashes of red would creep up and cloud my vision. The creamy white walls would be replaced by gray ones when I would blink. It was all too confusing to keep track of.

When I came into the kitchen my stomach gave a vicious growl when it spotted the pancakes my mother had made on the counter. Nothing sounded better than pancakes with butter and syrup. Not exactly healthy but it was extremely delicious.

My stomach gave one last snarl before it turned upside down the second I stuffed a forkful of pancake in my mouth. I had to spit it out. I almost retched in the process, the food that looked so delicious not but 30 seconds ago looked grotesque now.

All I saw was moldy pancakes and butter puss drowned in urine—which was syrup but it looked like urine. My stomach heaved in protest at the sight of it.

I threw it out in the trash. The rotting garbage filled my nostrils with its putrid smell and brought tears to my eyes. My appetite was completely gone.

"Why are you throwing perfectly good food in the trash?" Mia, my older sister, asked. It was just my luck that she happened to walk into the kitchen when I was throwing my food away.

She cocked her left, perfectly tweezed, eyebrow in question and crossed her arms, waiting for my response.

What was I going to tell her, I saw rotting food but it's really all in my head? I gave her the most plausible reason I could think of.

"There was a bug in it." Which could totally happen.

"Eww. That's disgusting." She gagged.

She always gagged. For Mia everything that didn't go with her perfectness was disgusting or gross and should be destroyed immediately.

I knew; I had to live with her for the past 16 years.

"Well I'm not going to eat anything." She decided. She gave me one last glance before leaving the kitchen, but I noticed that her eyes were wary.

Mia had brown hair the same medium shade as mine, but hers was silky and straight totally tame unlike my curly mess. She had a twig skinny body with big boobs that every girl envied. But I think she secretly desired my curvier body because she always seemed to hate it when our aunts complemented my hourglass figure.

I waited in the empty kitchen until I heard Mia's voice call me.

"Rose hurry up we got to get to school." She was already halfway out the front door, the lines of impatience visible on her face.

She was always in a hurry to get to school; too bad it was for the wrong reasons. She was most likely in a hurry to go suck face with Jesse or Ralph or whoever was her latest snack of the weak.

I have a theory that all she eats is saliva because the only thing I have ever seen in her mouth is some guys tongue. Disgusting: Yes, very.

I ran out of the house in time to see the rising sun glimmering over the tops of the neighborhood trees; it was a beautiful sight but its beauty was tarnished by the sight of my sister in the driver seat.

She never lets me drive, even though the Toyota was technically both of ours.

"I'm coming, don't worry, his saliva won't dry out just because you're not there to suck it."

Mia answered by rolling her eyes and flipping me off. Oh how classy.

"Just get in Ro Ro."

Not that name, she knew that name was like the B word to me.

Her eyes looked me up and down when I got in before distain overtook her features. Her nose wrinkled up as if she smelled something bad.

"What?" I was tired of her complaining about my horrible outfits—her words not mine.

"You're dressed like that and you still have to ask why I'm looking at you like this." She sniffed. She pulled the car into reverse and started driving before she continued. "I think I should be asking how hard you got hit in the head when you were a baby because something is clearly not normal."

I couldn't understand what the big problem was. I mean sure I wasn't wearing short skirts and sparkly tank tops like Mia always does, but my black band shirt and combat boots weren't completely odd, right?

"Just shut up and drive." I told her.

"Will do sista, will do."

The car elapsed into silence, like always. There was a gap between Mia and I; a space that was no longer filled. We used to be close. There was a time where you would find us leaping through trees and hanging on branches like monkeys. We were best friends, but I guess blood thins and water thickens.

I stared out of the car window the remainder of the ride so I wouldn't be tempted to ignite another argument. Call it family problems but I loved the sight of my sister with her nostrils flared ready to pitch a fit. It was funny.

Instead I concentrated on the houses. That was safer. I watched the colors of each house blur together with the next so that it looked like one giant paint tablet. The last of the street lights was looming brightly against the rising sun and the cracks from the plastered gray walls—

I tore my eyes open with a shock, not aware that I had closed them to begin with.

"What the hell is a matter with you?" Mia asked. I saw the slightest bit of worry in her eyes before she turned them back to the road.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"Well don't since you can't seem to handle the simple action of thinking. You'll probably fry your brain from the exertion." She tried to joke. But I heard the concern laced in her words.

"Ha Ha. Very funny," I replied dryly. It actually kind of was and if she hadn't been ripping me I would have laughed—a real one, not the fake one I gave her.

We elapsed back into silence and didn't talk again for the remainder of the ride. It would have been excruciating if the radio wasn't there to fill up the silence.

Mia parked in her usual spot, which she insisted was the cool parking spot. Then, before anyone could see us together, she bolted out of the car. It was the same ritual she did every morning even though we had the same first period. It would make sense for both of us to walk there together but she couldn't risk getting caught with me. It hurt at first but I got used to it because with Mia it was all about doing things the "cool" way.

She sat on the "cool" tables. She went to the "cool" bathrooms—which I though was stupid because why would there be a cool bathroom if you're just going to use it not host a pageant in it—she hanged out with all the cool people.

She basically ran the school with her pretty face; every guy seemed to bend at her mercy when she fluttered her fake lashes. And the girls followed her around like lost puppies feeding on her crumbs. It was pathetic.

Which was why she could not jeopardize her "coolness" by being seen with me, the social leper who was dubbed a freak since middle school.

You see, our relationship was perfect till that fateful moment in sixth grade when everyone decided I wasn't worthy of being normal.

It's not like it was my fault. I just never seemed to fit in with the "normal" crowd. Even Christian, my best and only friend in the world didn't seem quite in tune with me. And he was a freak just like me.

I took my time getting out of the car, exaggerating the movements. Mia shot me a glare but I didn't care. It was her social status at risk, mine couldn't get any lower.

I clutched my bag against my chest and braced myself for the hellhole I was about to enter—school.

The front of the school was swamped with people all waiting to the last minute to enjoy their bit of freedom. I walked to the front of the crowd and watched it part like the red sea.

_Of course no one would want to be pressed against the town freak. _

I passed through like a criminal waiting to be judged. They all looked the other way when I made eye contact like some unspoken rule that dictated against meeting my eye. It was times like these, when the air was so thick of tension it was clouding my vision and when the silence was so loud my ears were ready to burst, that I felt like a true freak.

I pressed my nails so hard against my bag I thought I might have ripped it, but I had to relieve my tension somehow. My eyes searched around from person to person, my hands got clammy with perspiration. I never did like being surrounded by people. I always felt like at any moment a dog pile would happen and they would suffocate me under the smell of dirty shirts and sweaty socks.

I barged in through the front doors, relieved for once to be in school, and hyperventilated in the hallway. I bent over and put my hands against my knees to try and catch my breath.

_I hated mornings._

My breathing slowly went back to normal—thank goodness—and I was able to get up from my hunched position. Class wouldn't start till another 5 minutes, so in true fashion I went to class the long way. I didn't have any reason to worry; my seat was always there when I got there. For whatever reason I was glad, that meant I didn't have to rush to class to snag a seat.

I walked in three seconds before the bell rang and sat down next to my desk partner, Mason. He had fiery red hair that stuck in every direction and freckles covering every inch of his skin. He was the only boy brave enough to sit next to me but even then he wouldn't talk to me. He kept his face facing forward, not even deviating a centimeter. That would have bothered me if I wasn't used to it.

I scanned the classroom in hopes of wasting time before class started. I hated this class—AP Calculus. The name alone made me want to barf but the bright side was worth it. If I passed this class then I wouldn't have math my senior year. I was the only junior in this class, everyone else were seniors. I guess that should make me some sort of a math whiz, which according to my test scores I was. But I hardly studied for this class so I have no idea how my scores got so high.

The class was cut up in its usual social ladder. The geeks were in the front where I was situated and the jocks, cheerleaders, and other "cool" people would sit in the back. I actually never got that. The board is always harder to see from way back so I couldn't get why the back seats were better but whatever, to all its own I guess.

My sister—a senior as well—sat in the back with her girlfriends. They always talked super loud as if everyone else was dying to here there conversation. As if we didn't have anything better to do than hear the conversations of petty girls. Their giggling voices seemed louder today than usual. Try as I may I couldn't block out their voices.

"Oh he's so cute."

"I know right."

"Why doesn't he look back here?"

Of course I knew they would be talking about him. My head moved toward the subject in question as soon as I thought of him and met a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

Of course it had to be him. The object of every girl's fixation. The person whom my sister and her idiotic friends could not stop talking about, the new boy Dimitri.

We don't get a lot of new students so when they do come it's kind of a big deal. But I think Dimitri would have been a big deal regardless.

He was hotness in the flesh—according to the girls in this school. And they made no secret how much they desperately fawned over him. But even I—the social leper—had to admit he was hot.

He had these dark brown locks and chiseled body that was noticeable even with his clothes on. And he was tall. Now I'm not very short I'm around 5'7" but this guy has a good foot on me. By my estimations he was 6'7".

Not that I fawn him, quite the opposite I completely ignore him. And that was hard to do considering that he goes to my school. You would have thought he was a celebrity by the amount of attention he was getting.

He wouldn't have caused this much commotion among the school if he had followed its natural setting. But for all his looks he didn't quite follow the social ladder. He could easily sit in the back. He had been invited by every single girl there, but he always declined with a simple shake of his head.

But here comes the kicker, that I have never told anyone about, that even I myself don't believe. Dimitri stares at me. He sits on the desk behind mine and I always feel his eyes on the back of my head.

At first I didn't quite believe it; I thought I might have something in my hair like gum, but I checked, twice. He did the same thing the next day to the point that I got fed up and stared right back at him. My hazel eyes stared right into his brown ones with an intensity that would make anyone else uncomfortable but he didn't flinch.

We would do the same thing every day like our own freaky form of conversation and today was no different. I looked into his eyes and he didn't look away, he merely cocked his eyebrow in challenge. He never looked embarrassed at having been caught staring. I had to break away first, I always break away first.

We never talk our staring is the only form of contact we share, which would seem like nothing if he did it to other girls. Point being he didn't, he didn't talk to anyone, boy or girl. All the girls who tried to approach him would get the cold shoulder, he wouldn't even spare them a glance.

Even my sister, the prettiest of us all, was shut down by Dimitri. He didn't even look at her.

But for all his efforts it seemed to have backfired. The girls seemed to be drawn to his aloofness. The mystery surrounding him made him sexy.

My sister—never one to back down—had already gone through four boyfriends to show Dimitri how much she was wanted. His answer was, well nothing. It was like he didn't even notice her; even though she was kissing her boyfriend's beside his table.

Frankly no one had heard Dimitri talk, he would just sit quietly next to Eddie, his desk partner, and stare into space or at me not that anyone noticed the latter.

Dimitri's handsome face was all business. His strong jaw was always set, he never smiled or looked pleased or showed any emotion. He was like stone.

If I was a normal girl I would be ecstatic that Dimitri—the hottest guy ever—was staring at me, but this is where my weird paranoia set in. I didn't trust Dimitri. There was something about him that struck a chord in me.

Dimitri arrived at this school right after Natalie disappeared. It could be merely a coincidence and I would have written it off if the dreams hadn't started on Dimitri's first day of school.

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	2. Chapter 2 Cafeteria

Rose. Rose."

"What?"

"What are your thoughts? Do you want to do it or hold on till later?"

"Hold on. What are you talking about?" I was way too lost in this conversation.

Christian had cornered me outside of my fourth period class to talk gibberish. At least that's what it sounded like to me.

"Did you hear anything I just say?" Christian asked exasperated. I could tell it was something important; he had those wild eyes he gets when he makes a breakthrough.

You see there's a reason why Christian and I don't have friends. Well at least there's a reason why Christian doesn't have friends, my reason is still a mystery to me.

Christian has a past time that is more of an obsession than anything else. He was obsessed with the underworld—hell—and was convinced that there were portals here on Earth that led to it.

He tries to contact the dead on normal days and tries to impress girls on weird days.

Even to me he was freaky, but we freaks stick together. We had seen each other through some tough times, plus I had no one else to sit with in lunch and even an outcast doesn't want to be lonely.

"Yes, I heard you call my name."

"That's not funny I'm serious." He gave me his best serious face which looked more like he was constipated but I got the point.

"Ok sorry. What did you say?"

"I found a book—"

"Stop right there. You come every day saying you found a book and it turns out to be crap." Seriously his dad works in a library, when doesn't he find a book.

"But this times different. I actually read some of it and I think this ones the one."

"Then I hope you and the book have a very lovely relationship. Seriously I'll be rooting for you two." I chirped with fake enthusiasm. Christian cracked a smile but otherwise didn't acknowledge my joke.

"So you going to help me out." He pleaded, he even went as far as fluttering his eyelashes and pouted his chapped lips. He hadn't done that since we were twelve so it didn't have the same effect it used to. This time around it only made me bark up a laugh so loud Russians in Moscow heard me.

Christian tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for my laughing tirade to finish.

"Ok that's enough laughing at my expense. Seriously Rose shut up." Christian said when after two minutes I still hadn't stopped laughing. I could tell he was trying to sound angry but I could hear the smile in his voice.

I was between my sixth or seven hundredth laugh when I heard it. A loud clanking sound on the floor and it was approaching fast. But I couldn't stop laughing, even Christian had joined in.

The clanking sound stopped a few feet away from us but I managed to see what it was. Three sets of heels large enough to poke an eye out stood next to the water fountain about ten feet away.

I looked up in time to see their owners glare at me, their faces mingled with disgust and disbelieve.

Sure most of our laughing happened in the confines of Christian's bedroom but they shouldn't look so amazed that we actually do laugh.

"Uhh. Look at those losers." One of the girls said, Lissa I believe her name was. She was with two other girls, but she appeared to be the leader in their little click. The statement alone would have pissed me off but what really threw the match in my internal fire was the look that they gave us. It was one that said we were scum on their shoe.

They effectively stopped our laughing. I wanted to punch them in those glossed up lips of theirs for ruining the moment of happiness Christian and I were sharing.

I didn't know much about the other two but I knew Lissa. She had gotten meaner throughout the years. I never really talked to her but when we were little she seemed friendly. Her mother died when she was eleven. Lissa changed after that. Most people don't give her any grief because they feel sorry that she's motherless, but I feel like she's playing up that fact. She uses it to her advantage, which is a shame because her mother, Rhea, was a wonderful woman. I don't think she would appreciate what a bitch her daughter had become.

All three of them were wearing heels but Lissa was the one dressed more extravagant. She wore this beautiful golden dress that her blond hair seemed to mix in with. Her jade green eyes sparkled with mischief. They all looked like they had just walked off of the run way. Their hair was perfect, not one hair out of place and their makeup was done to perfection.

You could almost taste the plastic when you looked at them.

Instead of beating the life sized barbies half to death, like I so badly wanted to do, I walked away with Christian. I knew I was being the bigger man for walking away but right now I wanted to be the little man because at least he gets to bash their faces.

"Don't worry about them Rose. They're assholes anyways." Christian said as we walked away. He smiled down at me and put his hand on my shoulder to calm me down. Sometimes I didn't get why Christian was alienated—other than the obvious—he was so nice and caring. And he never let anything get to him; it was like he was content with being a freak.

I looked at him through my periphery and saw what everyone else might see. Black messy hair and blue eyes that contrasted to the extreme with his pale skin. He wore all black from head to toe and had this weird trench coat that made him look like a bootleg vampire. Honestly he looked like evil incarnate, like he could kill you at any moment.

Christian being the weirdo he was loved it. Only I knew what a real marshmallow he was.

Christian had the tendency of being squeamish at the sight of blood. And in more than one occasion had fainted at the sight of it. I unfortunately found that out the hard way when I scraped up my arm and instead of Christian helping me I had to carry him to his bedroom when he fainted.

"So underworld searching at your house." I said, changing the subject. It worked, Christian's face immediately brightened up at my words.

"Alright Rose we got ourselves another lead." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and gave me his famous devilish smile. "Maybe this time we'll figure it out."

I didn't want to tell him that it probably wouldn't happen. The underworld didn't exist. I humor Christian because he's my best friend, but I knew it wasn't and I sat in our usual lunch table, way in the back corner away from everyone else. We found it easier to be ourselves when we were out of everyone's sight.

Still you couldn't block everyone's annoying voice and we could still see them so it wasn't too great.

I nearly stuffed napkins in my ears to block off what some of the girls were saying. It always had to do with make-up or a cute boy but a shrill voice made my ears perk up. More by what she was saying than by her voice because her voice was enough to make anyone want to claw their eyes out.

"I wonder what he's doing here; he never comes to the cafeteria." She cried out.

It was impossible to not know who she was talking about. Who else never came to the cafeteria, or interacted with humans for that matter.

Immediately the buzz of girl's voices grew to an excruciating level, clearly excited at this prospect.

"You think if I ask him out he'll say yes."

"Maybe if I pull my shirt lower."

"I'll put some of my cherry lip gloss that way he'll notice my lips."

Every word was more pathetic than the next. And it all had to do with him, Dimitri. I couldn't even concentrate with what Christian was telling me which had something to do with sandwiches. Or maybe I was just really hungry.

"Who is he staring at, it can't be at her." The same annoying pitchy voice said. Of course all their voices were annoying to me so I couldn't be sure if it was the same.

I almost looked up but I figured that would be too vain of me. I mean I only have him for one class, maybe I was wrong and he stares at a lot of girls. Maybe I have had gum in my hair these past two weeks and I've missed it in the shower—as illogical as that sounds.

"Hey, Ro. Rose. Rose." Christian called. I ignored him, too lost in my thoughts to pay attention to what Christian was talking about but he wasn't having that.

"Ouch." I cried out when Christian elbowed me, hard, on the ribs.

"What was that for?" I sneered because ow that really hurt.

"Sorry, but that was the only way to get your attention." He chuckled. I signaled for him to continue. "The new guy is staring at you." He smirked. "He's looking at you all lovey dovey." He made little kissing noises and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Be quiet." I whispered in panic. Hopefully nobody noticed that. What would they say? Worse yet what would Dimitri say. Not that I care more about what he has to say.

I choked back my internal tirade and looked up to see several curious faces but of more importance I saw Dimitri staring straight at me. He was sitting in the extreme edge of the bench. His torso and head were inclined in my direction.

This was the first time he had ever looked at me outside of the classroom. I couldn't help the butterflies that seemed to have erupted in my stomach. His strong jawline quivered and for a second everything seemed to stand still. The only thing that seemed important in that moment were his eyes, those chocolate brown eyes that have haunted me these past two weeks, those eyes that were looking at me so intensely I felt as if I would burst into flames.

He turned away abruptly, and the spell ended, everything went back to normal. The gush of sound came back and everyone came to view. It was no longer me and him we were back in the cafeteria—not that we ever left but it felt like we did. It only lasted a second but it seemed so much more than that.

I watched as Dimitri gathered his things and fled the cafeteria in a frenzy; So much for spending time with humans.

"I bet he stared because she's so weird."

"Did you see how he just looked away when she looked up, she probably freaked him out."

"Of course anyone would be freaked out when looking at that."

And just like that the mystery as to why Dimitri was looking at me was solved. Even I was starting to believe what everyone was saying because there was no way someone like Dimitri would be interested in me—even if he might be a sociopathic murderer, he would still have better taste.

I tugged on my brow hard enough to rip hairs—a nervous tendency I never quite got rid of—so I wouldn't have to face the bitter truth. I was a freak and no one would be interested in me.

"Don't listen to them Rose they're idiots." Christian grabbed my shoulder as if to shake some sense in me. "I saw the way that kid looked at you and it didn't have anything to do with your freakiness."

"Gee thanks, you kind of ruined it in the end though."

"No I didn't. I think your freakiness is your best asset, everyone else just doesn't know how to appreciate it." He placed his pointer finger on my chin and lifted my head up. "And always keep this up, never down." He advised

"Wow, to what do I owe all these complements," Because the last time I got these many complements from Christian we were thirteen and he was trying to convince me to give a letter to my sister on his behalf.

"Dude, you're my friend. We might tease each other all the time, but at the end of the day you got my back and I got yours." He said. His blue eyes dead serious, there was no joke in them.

I swallowed back the strong emotions I was feeling and gave him my most sincere smile.

"Come on we've got to get to class." He jumped up and grabbed my arm. I was surprised when I saw that nearly everyone was out of the cafeteria. I was so caught up in my emotional roller coaster I failed to register the bell.

Christian lead me out of the cafeteria by the arm like a five year old but I managed to take one last glance back. There was no one left in the room but slight movement made me aware of a shadowy figure slumped against the wall. I blinked in shock and it was gone. The cafeteria was empty again; I felt chills run all over my body.

What the hell was a matter with me?

I didn't look back again least I see something else that apparently wasn't there.


	3. Chapter 3 books

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"Rose. Rose" Mia whispered urgently. "What are you doing in the car so soon; you know you're suppose to wait at least fifteen minutes after the bell rings before coming in."

"I did." I answered back annoyed. Mostly because I had to wait in the parking lot under the scorching sun to get in the car when I could have been in the air conditioned car several minutes ago.

"No it's only been thirteen minutes." She whispered back. I waited to see if she was kidding but her face was serious.

"Two minutes. You're bitching at me for two freaking minutes."

"Calm down, there's no need to shout but you should know better." She admonished.

Sometimes I didn't know if my sister was stupid or she just acted stupid.

"Let's change the subject shall we." She suggested in her Martha Stuart voice. You know the voice where she thinks she's better than you are but still says it sweetly like if it isn't obvious.

"Fine whatever," Anything was better than this.

"Why was Dimitri staring at you." She said her voice uninterested. But I knew my sister and she was very interested. I gave her the same answer every one else seemed to have concluded to.

"I don't know Mia maybe he wanted to see how much of a freak I am."

Her eyes snapped to me and there was no more pretense that she wasn't interested anymore.

"He's in our class and sits right behind you. He's already gotten an eyeful of you. If he wanted to know how big of a freak you are he would do it there."

Ouch. That hurt, more because it was my sister instead of the ass hats in school.

I turned my head toward the window so my sister wouldn't see the tears. She still managed.

"Rose I didn't mean that." Mia said. Her voice was ringing with sincerity. She always does this, lets slip what she really thinks of me and then thinks because she takes it back then everything is ok.

I always forgave her in the end though because no matter how much her words hurt I knew they were true. I couldn't punish her for her honesty.

I turned to look at her and saw the concern brimming in her eyes. Damn her and her twinkling blue eyes that gets her everything she wants.

I could feel the anger slowly evaporate. I could never stay mad at her, because for some unknown reason I loved her to death.

She seemed to realize that our fight was over because her face immediately brightened up. She always gets what she wants after all.

"Do you think he was curious about you because he heard we were sisters—No I got it, he is obviously too shy to come talk to me because I'm popular and always surrounded by people. But since you're my sister he could tell you to pass it on to me." She smiled completely satisfied. Her eyes got that glazed over look she gets when she's lost in a day dream.

It use to freak the hell out of me when she did it while driving but I got used to it.

The thing with Mia was when she convinced herself about something she really did believe it.

"Oh." She gasped. "Rose we have to give you a makeover. Dimitri can't see you like this; you have to look remotely normal so he won't get the wrong impression of me." Mia said like it made perfect sense.

I never understood how everything she said always revolved around getting me a makeover. It was always the same thing: Rose I need to buy eggs so you need a makeover or Rose we're going to Disneyland so you need a makeover. Ehh makeover, the word was a cosmic bitch slap if I've ever heard one. It basically meant you look like shit so let me change you so you look remotely human.

"Thanks, but no thanks." I had enough problems without the school thinking that the little freak was trying to fit in.

"Fine it was just a suggestion." She said. Her voice took on a dreamy quality when she continued. "What do you think his lips feel like; you think it's smooth and delicious or hard and rough."

I really didn't want to answer that especially since I myself had wondered that same question. Not because I like him or anything it was merely morbid curiosity. Which was understandable considering I had never kissed anyone; a girl could day dream about kissing a hot guy even if that hot guy was Dimitri.

"I don't know, I really haven't thought about him that way."

Ok so I was a big liar, but it was better than fessing up.

"How could you not?" She said surprised. "I mean seriously Rose every girl in that school has had at least one dirty dream about him."

"What?" What?

"Of course, there is not one girl in that school that has not dreamed of ripping his clothes off." She sighed. "And other things less kindly to say." She grinned making her dimples pop out.

"So you've had dirty dreams about Dimitri." My voice went whisper soft when I said his name. It was embarrassing how just saying his name could affect me.

Mia turned off the engine before turning her whole torso in my direction, for once excited to be talking to me.

I was actually shocked to see we were home already, so it took me longer than usual to see the wide grin on her face. Her eyes a bit bashful but the lust haze was evident.

"Rose the better question is when don't I have dirty dreams about Dimitri." She grabbed her neck and closed her eyes in passion. She sighed—or more like moaned—before opening them. "And last night's dream was the best so far." She licked her lips and gave one last sigh before getting out of the car.

"Wait, that's all you're going to tell me?" I practically shouted.

"Yes because there my dreams not yours." She gave me another wicked smile before going inside.

It didn't seem fair, these past two weeks all I've been getting were my nightmares and Mia gets the lip smacking moan producing dreams.

I followed her inside are yellow house before plopping down on one of my mother's lime green cushion. The cushion alone would have been a monstrosity but my mother—a miracle worker—made it go well with the yellow patterned wall and dark green couches.

I loved/hated this house. On the plus side it was my haven away from the constant ridicule of school but it did have its disadvantages. Mostly in the name of my mother who aside from loving me thought it was her job to "fix" me. With her it was always why don't you dress like a lady, don't you want to look pretty, why aren't you more like Mia. Though she didn't exactly say the latter I know she was thinking it.

I popped in my ear phones and blasted the music in hopes that I would avoid my mom but try as I may she still got to me.

My earphones were ripped out of my ears in an instant and instead of an earful of music I got an earful of mom.

"Rose, how many times have I told you to not use this while I'm talking to you." She yelled. The lines on her forehead became more prominent and the vein on her temple pulsed almost bursting its blue jelly.

"Sorry mom I didn't notice you were talking." I replied almost bashfully because I knew I was lying.

"You certain of that." She narrowed her blue eyes and gave me the look. I was always a good liar but my mother had a way of seeing through my lies.

She waited with her eyes narrowed till I fessed up.

"Fine, I heard you." I admitted. "I was just trying to avoid this talk." I mumbled out.

My mother had recently picked out the habit of trying to find me friends. Last week it was with the elderly neighbors niece who according to my mother was a nice girl. And don't get me wrong I'm not picky about friends or anything. I did actually go there and say hi but the girl wasn't quite what I expected. She turned out to be 12, and if the age wasn't enough of a downer her obsession was. Her back pack and folder were covered in strawberry shortcake pictures. I knew right there that this friendship would never go anywhere and decided to drop it.

"I'm just worried about you sweetie, it's not natural for a girl of your age to not have any friends." She said, the lines of concern showing on her face. My mother looked a lot like my sister, they had the same features that defined there beauty. It also meant that my mother had no idea what it meant to not fit in.

"I do have a friend mom, remember Christian, he's been my best friend since the sixth grade." I hated how she easily discredited Christian, as if he didn't count.

"Yes, Christian." She said his name like if it left a bad taste in her mouth. "I wanted to talk to you about him. I don't think he's a good friend for you to have. Did you know that, that boy reads devil worshipping books and I heard from Kirova that she saw that boy try to contact the dead." She said whisper soft.

Of course Kirova would say something like that. She was the biggest gossip in town. She knew everything about everyone right down to their date of birth. What I didn't understand was how she found out about Christian contacting the dead. We usually did that in his bedroom, unless—and this is freaky to even think about—Kirova peaks in through the windows.

"Mom please, I know Christian like the back of my hand, if you ever want to know anything about him you come talk to me don't rely on what other people have to say." Even if they got half of it right but she didn't need to know that.

"I just don't like the looks of that boy. He doesn't look like a good influence." My mom always the worried one. "Can't you make decent friends."

"Mom, I understand why you would think that but what friends can I make. You want me to befriend the people who call me loser and freak every day."

Her mouth turned into a hard line. She never did like the fact that I was the school freak. She always blamed it on herself even though I told her many times that it wasn't her fault. That it was me, that it is me.

"Ok sweetie." Her eyes turned kind. "I trust your judgment. And Christian is a nice boy. You know me I always get caught up in Kirova's stories, but I can't help listening when it affects you." She patted my head softly and ruffled my thick curls, her signal to announce the conversation was over.

"So what are you doing today." She asked as she walked to the kitchen. Her voice sounded far away, probably more concentrated on the cookies on the table than the actual question she asked.

"I'm just going to hang out with Christian today." I flinched. Please don't say no.

It took her longer than usual to answer but when she did it was in resignation. "Fine, if that's what you want to do then take the Toyota—"

"No, no, no!" Mia yelled from the kitchen. Her voice shrill as nails. She came bargaining into the living room with the fury of hell written on her beautiful face. "She can't take the Toyota, I'm taking it. The girls and I are going to the mall and I already promised I'd drive. Please Mom." She puckered her full pink lips and fluttered her eyelashes in a way that mom couldn't resist.

I could see her walls crumbling when she took a look at Mia before conceding to her wish.

"I guess you could take the car Mia." She exhaled. I already knew it was going to end this way, nobody denied anything from Mia.

"Thanks mom love you." She leaned over and kissed my mom on both cheeks before taking her winnings; the keys to the car that only she seemed to drive. I could have argued that I never get to drive it but what was the point, I knew I wasn't going to win.

There was something about me that made me an outcast even in my own family. I would never win against Mia and I would never win against any other girl in the planet. I couldn't quite grasp what was wrong with me. I mean I acted normal enough; I didn't have any weird obsessions like Christian.

All I know is that in the middle of sixth grade everything changed, instead of being Mia's little sister I became a freak.

The only explanation I came up with is that the freak gene kicked in and everybody but me seemed to notice it. Either way it left me friendless until Christian came along.

"I guess I'll just walk to Christian's house."

"Ok sweetie, be careful. Don't come back too late, your father wouldn't like it." My mother said before she walked back into the kitchen.

"So Rose you're going to visit your boyfriend Christian." Mia teased.

"Eww." Seriously eww. I've known Christian for a really long time and I see him more like a brother. The thought of Christian and I together is as gross as the thought of a brother and a sister together. Both are just wrong and should never happen.

"Sheesh, Rose, no need to be mean." She giggled. "But Christian is gross so I can understand why you said that. Remember when he tried giving me that love note. Eww." She gagged.

"Christian isn't gross," I said a bit defensive. "He's misunderstood. And you should think yourself lucky that someone as cool as Christian liked you once."

"Cool." She laughed out loud. "Rose, Christian and cool definitely don't belong in the same sentence." She finished between laughs.

So maybe describing Christian as cool wasn't the smartest idea.

"What I mean is that he's amazing and my best friend so you can't say he's gross, only I'm allowed to call him that." I warned.

"Ok, fine I won't say anything about your boyfriend anymore."

I almost punched her in the face. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Ok then, whatever you say." She called as she jingled the keys, taunting me a bit before she walked out the door.

It wouldn't be Mia unless she rubbed it in a little.

I quickly gathered my bag and clutched it tightly to my chest before walking out into the fresh breeze. Sure walking isn't as cool as driving—according to Mia—but I happened to enjoy walking. Or maybe it was my quest to do everything the uncool way which made me pick walking. Either way the world seemed to always look better to me when the echo of gravel bounced off my feet. It made me feel like technology hasn't quite taken over if someone could do something as simple as walk.

I walked to Christian's house with two things on my mind first robots better not take over the world; I don't think I would do well if humanity was enslaved by machines. And second, Christian better have found something important in that book of his. I was getting tired of reading myth after myth each seeming more unreal than the next.

Ten minutes later I made it to Christian's house. His house was about four blocks away from mine and in the times when I had to walk to his house—which was every time—it really came in handy, living so close.

I gave my signature 3 knock beat on the door before his mother, Mrs. Ozera answered. She was a woman in her mid-forties; her jet black hair was pulled in its usual tight bun. Her clothing were the embodiment of the classic business woman with her black pencil skirt and white collar shirt, both smoothed out as if they were freshly ironed.

I had been to Christian's house about a million times but each time Mrs. Ozera gave me the same look. It was a look that I have been accustomed too, just about every one—aside from my family, Christian, and though it pains me to admit it Dimitri—gave me when staring directly into my eyes. It was a look filled with genuine fear.

I quickly side stepped her before I gave her a heart attack and let myself into the house.

Christian's house was everything he wasn't. It was orderly, classy, and perfect with beautiful Venetian couches smothered in white fluffy pillows and huge hand carved—according to Mrs. Ozera—tables.

It was too perfect. The furniture was as fresh as the day they bought it. I was always afraid to touch any of it in fear that I would ruin its perfection.

I headed towards the stair well and ran up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. I needed to get out of the stifling room; it was so clouded up with smugness I was nearly choking on it.

I barged into Christian's room, yelling "boo" as I came in. Christian was half sprawled on his bed, mauling over a new comic. He looked seemingly unaffected by my interruption even though it was loud and I'm sure the house might have shook a bit from the force of the door smashing against his poster wrapped wall.

"I knew you were coming." Christian said ominously while turning the page of his comic. He always seemed to know when I was here. "You might be wondering how I knew." He said, still not looking up from his book.

"No." I lied.

"Liar you always want to know." He smirked, finally turning his head in my direction. "And just because I'm feeling nice I'm going to tell you."

"Oh great one, tell me what I need to know." I quipped. He smiled smugly. Clearly the signals going through that thick skull of his were off because he didn't notice that I was being sarcastic.

"You always seem to suck the entire atmosphere out of my house like some black hole leaving it empty." The seriousness in his voice made me shiver. I always noticed how a room would go quiet when I entered but I always thought that it was all in my head. Or at the very least that it happened to everyone. Having my suspicion confirmed made me feel paranoid; like everyone was in on what made me a freak but me. I felt left out in my own secret.

"What do you mean empty?" Because that was the real question, how could any person leave a room empty?

"Just listen for a second, what do you hear?" He whispered. I perked my ears and tried to listen to what he was talking about, but there was nothing.

"Christian I can't hear anything." I whined. If this was one of Christiian's jokes he shouldn't be standing so close to me.

"Exactly," He said.

"What?"

"My mother is never quiet, she's always talking to someone on the phone or humming in that overly excited voice she always uses." He rolled his eyes showing how much he hated that voice. "And do you hear her now?" He asked. I was starting to get what he was talking about.

"You mean she always gets quiet when I come?" I couldn't believe it. How could I would have this much effect on a person? I always heard gossip about what a talker Mrs. Ozera was, but I've never heard a peep out of her. I was beginning to think that all that gossip about her was a lie. Well until Christian burst my bubble.

"Yep; and that's how I know that you're here because the house gets unusually quiet whenever you're around. It's like you completely suck the life out of my mother leaving her—

"Empty." I finished. I couldn't believe it; what had I ever done to her? Was it just gossip? Did Mrs. Ozera here something about me? Did she make her own conclusions and labeled me untrustworthy. Was I not even worth a simple acknowledgement in her books?

Even as I said it I knew it wasn't true. There was something else, something more that I was missing. Everyone in town couldn't be this stupid to believe some nonsense rumors that didn't even make sense. They had nothing on me except for the label of freak; there was no explanation to that label.

"Rose?" Christian snapped his fingers in front of my face interrupting my internal conflict.

"What?" I replied.

"What's with you, you've been inside your own head rather than on your feet these past two weeks." He looked me straight in the eye and the concern I saw there almost made me tell him about the dream. Almost, but I chickened out.

"I'm just tired, I haven't been sleeping well." I lied, hoping it wouldn't show on my face.

It made me feel a guilty when he didn't question my lie. Christian and I never lied to each other. So I wondered, why all the secrets now. Especially to Christian who knew everything and then some about me.

"So you want to study the book now." Christian asked. He made it sound like a question but I could hear the desire under his voice. There was no putting it off when it came to his obsession.

"Like I have a choice," I grumbled. I was still a bit ticked off over having to study another one of his books.

"Good." He seemed satisfied enough with my answer and went to go fetch the book like an over eager puppy. Of course the son of a librarian would drool over books.

He went no further than his bed and flipped the book out from under his pillow. It was all leather like an over-sized journal, the color so faded it was almost impossible to know what the original color had been. The bind was gnawed off as if Christian had gotten a little too over joyed and bit it, and the title was scrawled on in big old fashioned writing.

The book looked like it had come straight out of Dracula's castle but that wasn't what made me shiver. It was thick, the pages reaching up to the zillions. The sight alone made me quiver in my dark brown, ready to kick ass, combat boots.

"What the hell is this?" He better be joking or else Christian was looking at serious head up his ass time.

"It's the book." He shot back though his stance had turned a bit wary. I guess he notice the don't mess with me look on my face. Or maybe the I'm about to kick your ass posture I was holding. Either way it looked like he knew he was in big trouble.

"Book, that's no book. That's a freaking encyclopedia."

"What? No its not, it's the book." He retorted, but I thought I saw him take a quick glance at the book just to make sure.

"I know that, what I'm saying is couldn't you find a book bigger than the United States." I sassed.

"This book is big." My goodness this boy needs to know what sarcasm is and quick.

"Really." I made my voice sound like an airhead. "Because I thought it was small."

"Ro, shut up and get reading. Stop trying to wiggle yourself out of reading." He guessed. _Damn_, I was hoping this banter would go on longer and cut through reading time.

"Fine." I surrendered and flopped on the floor. There was no distraction in the world that could get Christian out of reading. Even if Pamela Anderson walked in topless, he would still be more interested in the book on his lap.

"Good." He ran his fingers through his dark locks before signaling me to come next to him.

"I found out that the book is separated into sections." He pointed out once I joined him. We were both sitting crossed legged on his bed with the book on our laps. His deep black comforter felt cotton soft against my legs. I felt like I was sitting on a giant black marshmallow.

"What kinds of sections?"

"Well the underworld section is split in two parts, there's first the actual description of hell." He whispered. "And then there's the demon section."

"Ok so we just read the first part and there." _Seemed simple enough._

"That's what I thought. But I found something very interesting in the demon section. It described a ritual to send a demon to hell." He looked excited, his dark eyes showed a boyish mirth. "It's not like the other ones we've read about that just traps the demon in one spot. With this ritual you could banish him from this world and send him to the fiery pits."

"What? And more importantly why the hell would we need to know that?"

"Well you never know what could happen. We need to be prepared. But it's actually quiet hard to send one to hell. Killing them is much simpler."

"Yeah, Yeah I know." Christian and I had spent a whole week, a couple of months back, learning incantations to kill demons. Each incantation was several phrases of Latin words that had to be said precisely, if you pronounced even one word wrong it wouldn't work.

"Well it says in this book that to send a demon to hell you have to drop three dots from the blood of the willing, and a virgin with the intention of sending the demon to hell should kiss the demon to seal the deal." He finished.

"A kiss, really?"

"Yeah. It has something to do with the purity of the virgin. A demon is everything unholy in this world. He wouldn't be able to stand the pureness of that kiss; even if it is intended to send him to hell." His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "But what's the willing?" He asked.

"Someone who willingly gives up their blood." I stated the obvious.

"Ohh. Well that's that. I can't seem to find anything about opening a portal though.

"So this whole search is useless." I exasperated.

"No, there was something not quite adding up. I think it's somewhere in the demon section but I can't find it." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and stared at his wall, as if it had all the answers to the world.

"And that's why you need me." I guessed.

"Yes." He said still not looking away from the wall. "Those eyes of yours miss nothing, there like hawk eyes only scarier."

"What?" I asked startled. That was the first time he had referred to my eyes as scary. And even though it was only Christian, something about it didn't feel right.

"Hmm."

"What about my eyes?"

"Oh nothing it's just that your eyes get really scary sometimes. I feel like you could see right through me. I feel naked like you've stripped me of all my secrets." He sounded far away. I knew he was more concentrated on the thought of the demon than on the question he answered but it still made me shiver.

"So you need my naked stripping eye." I tried to joke but it fell flat against the panic bubbling up in my chest.

"In lack of a better word yes." Christian agreed. I was thankful that he was preoccupied with the book so he wouldn't notice the full blown panic attack I almost had.

"Ok then let me have at it." I didn't know until several hours later how much I would regret saying those words.


	4. Chapter 4 In which the pages are stuck

**Hey guys! Hopefully you like this chapter, and this story. Let me know if you think its any good or if it sucks in the review button in the bottom. It would totally make my day. **

I spent hours, wasting valuable homework time reading through the demon section, the underworld section, I even skimmed through the witch section in my desperation but nothing, nada, siltch.

I didn't know why I was trying so hard. There was just something in Christian's eager face that made me want to find this for him. Especially after all the times he tried to cheer me up when I was down; I felt like I owed it to him to do something back.

My eyes were so blurry by the time I reread the page about roots to kill the evil in your soul that I nearly collapsed. My face was already an inch from the book and I was about a second away from falling asleep on it.

"Rose, it's only nine o clock, how are you sleepy?" Christian asked wide awake. I should have known Christian would be as fresh as a wipy. He was a night owl choosing to stay awake most of the night. I always thought he was an idiot for doing so but he did have a point. His parents couldn't catch him doing the riskier things when they were sleeping.

"Fine, I'm going home then." I stood up to leave when a sudden thought hit me. "Christian mind if I take the book with me."

"What?" His eyes widened in surprise. The look of shock was almost comical on his face. But I couldn't blame him, since when did I want to take home a book to read? I was shocked myself at my request but I guess sleepy me was a masochist if she would willingly give up sleep to read a book that just about fried her brain.

"You heard me, give me the book so I could find the missing piece."

"Fine." He said, his voice was a bit wary from my odd request but otherwise had no problem with it.

"Here." He passed me the book like if it was a precious baby and looked me straight in the eye. "If anything happens to her I am holding you accountable for it." He reprimanded. But the warning sort of lost its meaning when he referred to the book as her. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Her, what the hell is it a person now. What happened to the good old days when books were only objects? All of a sudden they're your new friend."

He shrugged. "Books are nicer than actual people. They don't talk shit about you like people do so why not make them you're friend."

I had to admit he did have a point there.

"Ok fine whatever you say, Christian. I'll see you tomorrow." I waved as I grabbed the oversized journal and made my way out of his room. I was almost out when something on his dresser caught my eye. There was about a million cloths stacked on top of it but if I craned my neck I was able to make out what it was.

It was a book that looked almost identical to the one I was holding but the title was different. The book on Christians dresser title was worn out; you could barely make out what it said. But I was sure the title said The Seer's Handbook.

I quietly tiptoed down the stairs. Christian followed. He was adamant that he should walk me all the way home because it was night. I quietly told him that it was fine but I was distracted enough with Christian that I didn't see the person at the bottom of the stairs until it was too late. I collided against a hard chest. Two arms reached out reflexively to steady me. Their hands felt rough against my skin; their fingers butchered with thousands of paper cuts.

I looked up into my perpetual saviors eyes and saw the same blue eyes that Christian had, the only difference was the message they were sending. His kind face was a stark contradiction to the fear bulging out of the rim of his eyes.

"Sorry." I rushed out. "I didn't mean too."

"It's ok Rose." He said. I didn't miss the fact that he turned his face away from me.

"I was just going." I nodded to the door but Christian decided that it was the perfect time to ask his dad to give me a ride home.

"Honestly you don't need to bother yourself. I only live four blocks away." I rubbed the back of my neck reflexively.

"Its fine Rose, I could give you a ride." Mr. Ozera said slowly, almost unsurely.

"See Rose, my dad could take you home, and I'll come with you guys. Besides, you being alone at night is like an open invitation for rapists. "

Christian left me no chance to protest, he pushed me along to the garage and made me go into his father's minivan with him. I climbed into the back seat, Christian took shot gun, and buckled myself in. The car smelled like the strawberry car freshener that was placed next to the radio. The smell always made me dizzy. I cracked the window open to let in some air—and to get the god awful car freshener scent out before I barfed.

The ride home was quite but not uncomfortable. My head drooped comfortably against my seat, nearly falling asleep until Christian tapped me in the shoulder. I looked up annoyed, and noticed that we were outside my house.

I quickly jumped out and thanked Christian and his dad before going in.

When I went in the house it was dark. The only light came from my sister's room; her lights shined from underneath her bedroom door. My parents were predictably asleep already; they always slept at promptly nine o clock.

I went to my room in a hurry. I was exhausted to say the least and my eyes literally gave up halfway up the stairs. I felt my way to my room. My fingers brushed along the prickly walls. The chipped paint came off easily when my nails scratched against it, and I felt it. There was heat blowing on my face making it water down my neck and pour into my chest. Dust made its way down my throat clogging it, my lungs filled up with dirt. I managed to crack open an eye and that's when I saw it, him, the shadowed man. He was in my house, come to get me at last.

I wanted to scream for my mom, my dad, hell I'd even scream for Mia but my mouth was pressed against something.

I struggled to sit up right, I was sprawled on my stomach, my mouth pressed against the cement floor I was nearly licking the dirt off it. I tried to keep my eyes on the shadow. He was with Natalie again but she was already dead. Her eyes were glassy and lifeless. You could see right through them. Her pale green eyes were no longer vibrant, and the cream color of her skin was already paling.

I watched in disgust as he placed his hands in her blood and proceeded to smear it on the floor. It was almost like he was finger painting. My nostrils flared, I had to do something.

I couldn't move, couldn't speak. The only thing I was capable of was blinking. Maybe he shot me with a tranquilizer, that would explain why I was so numb.

I managed to peak at the drawing and saw an intriket crest with two spades going through it. And above it there was something like a word, if only I could move my head a little I'd be able to see it.

I managed to move my hands a little, though it still caused me to go out of breath from the exertion, my hand accidentaly touched one of the candles and I recoiled in pain when my fingertips brushed along the fire. The movement caused a candle to be knocked over.

It was like in slow motion I saw it tumble slowly to the floor, and then, impossibly so, the small thud it made on the floor caused the shadow to freeze. I felt fear pump in every one of my veins as I saw him slowly turn around and just when I was about to see his face a loud noise blasted close to my ear.

It was screeching, horrible, a sound straight from hell. I turned towards the noise and opened my eyes to see my alarm clock ringing the ungodly sound.

I sat up quickly rumpling my sheets and hit the alarm clock with my fist to shut it up.

I couldn't take this; I didn't know what was reality and what was dream anymore. I thought for sure I was there, I didn't even remember falling asleep.

Did I even go to Christian's house yesterday? I looked around my room for something to prove that what happened yesterday actually happened. That it wasn't some dream when my eyes landed on it.

The book, it was right there placed on top of my desk. I knew I had to get ready for school but when I untangled myself from the covers I didn't go to my closet like I was supposed to. I went to my desk—don't ask me why because I don't even know—and opened up the book again.

I didn't know what I was looking for; I had practically memorized the whole entire book, but there was something there that didn't feel right to me. I flipped through the book like a possessed woman and saw the page I was looking for.

In my exhaustion last night I had barely registered it but now my fingers were itching to find it. You would never know the difference if you were passing through the book, hell I didn't even see anything wrong till about the hundredth time of going through it but there it was.

It was the last page of the demon section right before the witch craft section but something seemed wrong about it like it was unfinished.

I scanned through the last paragraph again reading the words I knew so well.

_They are an evil so tightly bound only mortal blood could sustain it in its depth. It lurks in the fiery pits of the other world doomed to live eternity enslaved to their heathen lord. But their shadow rises and brings them forth to our world where they too will enslave our souls. _

It was the shadow part that got me. It was the first time they ever mentioned anything about a shadow but they didn't explain it any further. I nearly scratched my brains out in frustration until I noticed it. There was a tiny microscopic fold in the corner of the page. It was nearly invisible. There was a corner of another page sticking out, one that was underneath.

I tried to fold back the page more and noticed that it was stuck. The two pages were stuck; there was another page underneath.

I couldn't believe it; how could I miss that? I opened up my desk drawers and looked for something to pry open the pages without ripping them. I ended up finding my bitten and chewed on lucky pencil from elementary and figured that would do.

I slid it under the fold and popped it up like a cork. I was kind of surprised at how easy it came up; it didn't even pitch me a fight.

I smoothed out the page and read it in a hurry—my clock was still ticking and although I wished it would stand still for a moment it wouldn't budge. I didn't know why I was so excited to read it; I just knew that I had too, I felt it. But that initial excitement faded quickly when I got to the last paragraph.

I couldn't believe it; I didn't want to believe it. Whatever the reason, fate was laughing at me now because this couldn't be right.

This had to be some freaky coincidence. I needed to talk to Christian, now.

* * *

I was a bigger mess than usual; my hair was an untamable dark beast and the bags under my eyes were deep purple making it seem like I hadn't slept at all which was odd considering I had more than eight hours of sleep.

I waited for Christian beside the big red wall that held us in prison. I had called him right at seven with the news. Remembering it now he didn't seem like he got much of what I was saying. He was still about ninety percent asleep.

I had grabbed my silver cell and went to the only person on my contact list that wasn't my mom or Mia. Pretty pathetic to have only three people on your contact list but it always made it easier to find the number.

"What?" Christian mumbled into the phone when he answered. He sounded like he was still dreaming which was odd considering we had to be in school in like half an hour.

"Christian it's me Rose I have to tell you about—"

"Of course it's you."Christian interrupted; his voice still rough from sleep. "Who else calls me but you?"

"Yeah, I know but now is not the time; I have to show you something about the book. I think I found it."

"Really," Christian said. His voice was wide awake now.

"Meet me in the side of the school. Please get there before the bell rings I don't want to be late."

"You got it." His voice held the excitement I knew he was feeling.

I just hope that Christian honors his agreement and gets here before school starts. There's nothing more awkward than arriving to class late. Everyone's eyes are always on you when you enter late.

I paced back and forth impatiently looking up every once in a while hoping to see Christian's messy black hair. I almost gave up and left six minutes later until I saw Christian running towards me.

"What was it?" Christian asked breathless. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath; his face was flushed red with the exertion.

"Look." I opened the book and pointed to the page. His eyes scanned the words before looking up at me.

"Do you know what this means Rose?" His eyes were full of wonder and something else, recognition?

"Well it's how to open a portal right?"

"Exactly." He grinned showing his creamy white teeth.

"Yes but it's not like we could ever open one. Did you see what you would have to do? Its barbaric, a ritual straight out of hell."

"Exactly, a ritual to open hell would have to be hellish itself." He shrugged like if it was no big deal.

"But its murder."

"It's a sacrifice." He argued. "Totally different than murder."

"Christian you're not planning to do it, are you?" I asked warily.

It took him a while to answer but when he did I wasn't too convinced.

"No." He answered, but his eyes held a longing that scared me.

"Can I have the book back?" He asked impatiently. I already knew everything in that book. I didn't need it anymore so I gave it to him.

He left shortly after and I used the short walk to class to ponder over what I had read. What Christian didn't know was that I've seen it before. The scripture read:

_Shadows use the ancient rituals of the heathens to unleash their masters. They must light there path on a darkened night. The blood of a virgin will be spilled in the heat and her blood will open the gates to the evil underneath. _

It was too similar to my dream; my skin crawled with fresh jitters as I recalled the shadow.

I made it to class in a daze. I was too lost in my thoughts I didn't notice the empty chair next to me till I heard Mason's voice behind me.

Mason, my desk partner, was sitting in Dimitri's empty chair talking to Eddie. I found it strange that he wasn't sitting in his usual spot. Mason had sat next to me for half a year, and never had he and Eddie talked to each other.

I looked around the room and noticed what all the other girls were thinking. Where would Dimitri sit? It didn't seem like Mason was going to move, he had strapped his back pack to the back of the chair and his materials were spilled on Dimitri's desk.

I knew what was going to happen; they were going to try to sit next to him. My sister—apparently the leader in the plan—made it so that all the seats were taken except for the one next to her. I could see the disappointment in the rest of the girl's eyes but she was the queen bee in this hive.

The minutes ticked by, I heard the impatient taps of girl's fingernails on the table, the grinding of a chair against the tile floor. Finally when the tardy bell rang everything stopped. It became clear that Dimitri was not coming; I could hear the girl's collective groans.

I on the other hand couldn't care less. My head was already too confused with shadows and portals I didn't have time to be deciphering his weird stares.

I took out my notebook and began to doodle in hopes that it would distract me. All I managed to draw was a book before the air around me stilled.

Dimitri entered class late and handed our teacher a late slip. Mr. Nagy was still taking out his multiple lesson plans from his man bag when he took the slip and I had a strange suspicion that he mixed it in between his many manila folders that held our lectures.

Dimitri turned to go to his seat. I could practically hear Mia bounce on her seat with each step he took. And then the most amazing thing happened. Dimitri who's face was always stern it looked like it was permanently molded that way, smiled. His cheeks lifted and the slight dimple in his chin became more prominent.

When he smiled the female student body seemed to share an intake of breath. I didn't know what the big deal was. Sure his smile was like melting butter, big deal. He was probably smiling at Mia, anyways. It was every guy's dream to sit next to her and Dimitri didn't even have to try.

I looked up into Dimitri's smiling face and felt my face burn red. That was when I noticed he wasn't smiling at just anyone, he was smiling at me. He reached my table quickly, his strides long and powerful before he sat down in the empty chair next to mine.

My heart gave a nervous flip and I could feel the daggers the rest of the girls were shooting me. Nobody thought to take my seat probably confident on the fact that Dimitri wouldn't sit there. Especially when the seat next to Mia was open.

My cheeks flooded with color and all I could do was sit there like an idiot and stare straight ahead. I felt him lean sideways and if seeing him smile was a shock what he did next electrocuted me.

He spoke, his voice was like melting chocolate and it made me quiver all over.

"A reason why your blushing Rose." He asked. His face was back to being serious but his voice held a slight playfulness to it.

I was too shocked by his voice to come up with anything smart to say. Instead I said something stupid.

"You talk?" Idiot of course he talks, what the hell kind of question is that.

"Rose." He tsked. "You know better than that." It was unsettling how he said my name, like we were old friends.

"Apparently I don't." I bit back. "Besides how would you know?" I watched his eyes rake me before he leaned in closer and signaled with his finger so I could do the same. I didn't know if I should obey but my body seemed to have a mind of its own because it quickly did as it was told.

"Rose." His cool minty breath washed over me like a waterfall. "What better way is there to pass the time in this dump than to observe someone." He winked. I couldn't believe he was openly admitting to watching me—or that he could make something that was supposed to be creepy sexy.

"You observe me?" I should have been freaking out instead I felt my lips curve up into an involuntary smile. Well that is until I heard his next words.

"Don't be so egotistical, I never said I observed you." He licked his full lips before meeting my eyes. "I of course was observing your sister Mia." He stated nonchalantly. As if he didn't just rip out my last shred of dignity.

Of course it had to be Mia, when isn't it her. I held my head high and pretended like it didn't affect me—I already had lots of practice in this area.

He surprised me when he laughed, and it wasn't even a quiet one, it was one that echoed throughout the classroom and interrupted the teachers lecture. Everyone, including me, looked at Dimitri in shock.

"Mr. Belikov, do you have something to contribute to this lesson." Mr. Nagy asked. He too looked baffled at Dimitri's outburst but recovered faster than the students.

"No Mr. Nagy." Dimitri responded once his laughing had subsided.

"Then do you think my class is funny. Do you not know that once in here you are to remain silent?" Mr. Nagy stated.

"Yes sir." Dimitri said unaffected. "It was just that Rose here is quite a comedian, isn't that right Rose." He slugged an arm around my shoulders and gripped me tightly. The room went scary silent; I felt hard stares puncture holes on the hand around my shoulder. The tension was so thick I could almost smell it. I wanted to shake Dimitri's arm off but he gripped my shoulder with a vice, not allowing me to move.

Mr. Nagy went back to preparing for the lecture, but I couldn't care less. I was too concentrated on the arm around my shoulder.

My heart beat faster and I almost died when he finally let go. I felt the glares on my back more intensely. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. But there was one more thing I had to do before I died, because if the hole didn't get me the army of angry girls surely would.

"So I'm a comedian now." I smirked.

"Of course," he glowered. "How could you think I was interested in Mia?" He asked; his face had an expression of disgust.

"Because you said so," I said it more like a question suddenly unsure.

"No; I said what you believed was true." He inquired. He gave me a lopsided grin and turned back towards the board. "Besides I have more interesting people to observe than your sister." He gazed back down at me and this time I knew exactly who he was talking about. Me.

"So I was right."

"Don't get cocky Rose, both you and I knew you were right." His eyes were intense but something in them softened. "You should stop being so unsure of yourself, your so much more than what everyone else thinks." He whispered.

I felt something warm and wonderful spread throughout my body, like a spark was ignited with his words.

We spent the rest of the class in silence, the hectic assignments kept us busy but there were times that I swore I could feel his eyes observing me as I worked.

The piercing sound of the bell jolted me out of my oblivion. Dimitri sped out of the classroom in his usual routine as soon as the bell rang without even telling me goodbye or showing any signs of having talked to me. He was back to being stone faced Dimitri

I was actually starting to doubt my sanity; had I even talked to Dimitri or did I imagine everything.

I watched him walk away, even with his tall frame he was graceful; his long strides were intimidating and taken with a purpose. He disappeared outside of the classroom.

"Rose." Someone yelled in my ear. In my Dimitri haze it took me a while to realize it was Mia. "What were you doing?" She whispered urgently.

"Nothing." I hissed.

"It didn't seem like nothing; you were talking to Dimitri." She grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. "What did he say? Did he ask about me?" She whispered urgently.

"Well—"

"Wait, why did he put his arm around you?" She asked incredulously; as if barely now remembering.

I honestly didn't have an answer for that.

"Rose." She sounded upset now. "Dimitri mentioned me, right?"

"Yes." Technically, he did mention her.

"Good." She said relieved. "You see, I should have seen that he wasn't going to sit with me, not when he's shy around me. I'm a very intimidating person you know."

I stood up and gathered my stuff while Mia yapped about how anyone would be intimidated by her beauty.

I always wanted Mia to come talk to me, so that way it would show that she was my sister first and a social light second but now I think fate was mocking me because I wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

I hauled ass out of there as soon as I was free from Mia's clutches. I was just glad that she didn't ask any details.

High School was hurriedly becoming interesting, maybe I wasn't so much of a freak after all.


	5. Chapter 5 Ditched

**Hey guys. Tell me what you think. I hope you like it. And even if you don't well I'm glad you gave this story a chance. **

You're a freak, a big huge freak. You basically have a big pulsing neon sign on top of your head that says, beware of the freak.

That's exactly how I felt when I arrived in the cramped cafeteria to find Christian's and my table empty. Where the hell was he? He always ambushes me after fourth period; it was weird when I walked out of class and was met by nothing.

So first no ambush and now he's not even in the lunch room. He actually left me to fend for myself. I was going to die; they were all going to eat me alive with their hard glares and critical words.

All the clicks were sitting in their tables so close to each other, each person was wedged between the next. I felt claustrophobic just looking at them.

I got in line for my food and got the only thing that looked decent from the choices, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yum, bread filled in crunchy peanut butter. Right now I needed comfort food.

The cafeteria was stuffed with people. I had to whir around like a mini tornado to avoid them. I winced when I felt someone get to close. Their body heat radiated off of them like a million hot irons. I barely managed to not get burned.

The walk of shame to my table was a long one; where the hell was Christian? I needed him here; his moral support was what got me through this hell.

As soon as I got to my seat I rubbed my palms against the white table and traced the scratches of graffiti with my finger. I thought of maybe banging my forehead against the table hard enough to give myself a concussion. Anything would be better than all the yammer that the pathetic high school teenagers came up with.

I sagged in defeat and hid my face behind my hands.

_Someone please kill me._

I heard a hard set of footsteps before I felt the weight of the bench sink down. Finally Christian came.

Only when I took my hands off my face I realized it wasn't Christian who I was staring at. I was face to face with Dimitri.

"What are you doing here?" The question came out sharper than I intended. He cocked his eyebrow in that infuriatingly sexy manner of his, seemingly amused.

"Is that how you talk to someone who's trying to be nice," He said it like if he was teaching a child manners.

"You were trying to be nice?" I asked. "Because all I see you doing is sitting there." I was annoyed at how he talked to me; he made me feel like a petulant child.

"If you noticed, I came to sit by you so you wouldn't be so alone. You looked a little lost. I came by to help you." His eyes were mesmerizing; he cupped his chin with his hand and looked me up and down. "Though there might have been another reason I wanted to come here," He grinned. Was he flirting with me?

I raised my chin up and glared, "Well you can't sit here, that's Christian's seat."

"Yes, where is Christian. I thought you two were inseparable; adjoined at the hip or something like that. I guess he's not coming." He leaned in towards me and skimmed my cheek with his finger. "Better for me." He winked.

I pulled away, contemplating on whether or not I should throw my plate at him like I'd seen in old movies. Instead I settled on scowling at him.

"Well you're not helping me out by staying here; you're actually annoying me so get lost."

"Ooh, Rose has fight in her," He grabbed his chest with his hand and sighed. "I'm honestly touched that you choose to fight with me. You know what they say, thin line between love and hate."

"It's not that thin." I sneered.

He looked at me from under his lashes and tilted his lips up in a crooked smile. I hated the fact that my heart beat quickened; how could this jerk still affect me?

"You're not like ordinary girls." He stated. I had already heard countless times how I wasn't normal but when he said it, it was different, it sounded like a complement.

"Did you barely realize that," I sassed. I always use attitude to hide my feelings; it was a defense mechanism.

"No; I always knew you were different, it's why I came here." He stated. But there was something about the way he said it, it made me think he wasn't just talking about coming to sit with me.

"Really, do you like that then; do you get some kick out of weird girls or something." I grumbled. I was beginning to think that I was some weird sort of experiment for him.

"I never said you were weird, just different. That's not a bad thing." He reached forward and brushed his fingertips against my temple. "You see things." He whispered.

"What?" I screeched.

"Rose," he gave me a pointed look. "Don't act dumb with me."

I tilted my chin up, defensive. "I don't understand what you're saying." He couldn't mean—

"Why don't you tell me what's really on your mind." He gazed at me intensely almost like he knew I was holding out on him.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered. Surely he couldn't know about the dreams.

"Nothing," he looked away but not before I heard him mumble, "It's better this way."

My curiosity peaked over his words until I couldn't help but ask.

"What's better this way?"

He whipped his head to face mine and cocked and eyebrow in question. He was playing dumb, pretty much pretending he never said those last few words. Something about that denial made me snap a little.

"You heard exactly what I said, Dimitri, and if you don't want to answer me fine, but don't try to make me feel stupid by pretending you said nothing." I growled under my breath. I felt my cheeks inflame this time from anger. _I hated liars._

I watched his neutral expression fade for a second, replaced by genuine shock. His eyes were wide open. I a saw spark of surprise and something more, admiration maybe, swimming in his eyes before the shields went back up and he became stone once again.

I guess I wasn't going to get any more out of him.

I scowled at my peanut butter and jelly sandwich; my appetite was gone. I wanted nothing more than to pin Dimitri on the table and force him to tell me what he meant. But realistically I knew that was not going to happen.

"You're mad at me."

"Way to state the obvious. What are you doing here anyways other than trying to be chivalrous and your bad attempts at flirting."

"Bad attempts," He chuckled. "If I was flirting there wouldn't be any bad attempts."

He glanced around the cafeteria and stood up abruptly. He began to leave without saying a goodbye or an acknowledgement, like always. I was getting pretty fed up with his briskness, "So you're leaving; so much for being chivalrous, a gentleman would have at least said goodbye." I called after him.

He spun around in one quick motion and gave me a gallantly mocking bow. "So sorry, fair lady, I will now bid you farewell and good morrow." A giggle escaped me as he walked away. Big surprise, Dimitri was actually funny when he wanted to be.

Once Dimitri disappeared behind the cafeteria doors I realized how silent it had gotten. I had almost forgotten I was interacting with Dimitri in front of the whole school. But when I looked around I noticed that every person had their eye on me. I felt like I was being looked on from under a magnifying glass.

On the other side of the cafeteria I noticed Mia frozen in between a group of her friends. Her face was in complete shock, and it was only when her friend, Camille, nudged her that she snapped out of it.

I looked down, away from the stares, hoping to ignore them. I knew what they were thinking: Why would Dimitri, who could sit next to any girl, sit with her—and by her I mean me

I took a bite of my sandwich to distract myself. But as soon as the food hit my mouth I realized I was starving. I hadn't been eating well these past weeks, and it all seemed to come crashing down on me. I was so hungry I could eat a horse and still starve.

The bell rang while I was mid sandwich so I gobbled the rest of it down.

I got several curious looks from people as I made my way to class, and there were times when I swore someone was trying to approach me. Figures that when you're the topic for gossip everyone wants a piece of you.

I made it to my class unscathed but was cornered by Lissa before I could get in. Her blond hair was up in a sleek pony tail and her eye shadow emphasized the green of her eyes. We had this class together; she sat in front of me but never acknowledged my existence outside of calling me loser and freak.

Lissa made a show of putting her hands on her hips. "So how much did you pay Dimitri so he could sit with you?" She looked down at me; she was about four inches taller than I was but her heels made her grow an extra five inches, making her look like a model with her height and skinny figure.

"I didn't pay him anything." I raised my head high, determined to not be intimidated by big blond bimbos.

"Ha. What a bunch of bullshit. No one would sit by you willingly unless his name is Christian." She sniffed. I was actually shocked that she knew Christian's name considering she didn't have him for any classes.

"Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter. What does is that the bell is about to ring, so if you don't mind, MOVE." She didn't budge so I did the only thing I could think of. I stared at her, right in the eyes and watched her recoil away from me. I watched her eyes open wide in surprise before I went inside.

My strides were more awkward than usual because just about everyone was situated in their seats. I felt all my classmates eyes glued to my back as I made my way to my seat. This was going to be a long class.

High School, I hate you. Love Rose.

* * *

Where the hell is Christian? I thought as I rushed through the hallways. I had called him about a million times on his cell phone but he hasn't answered.

He wasn't even in any of his classes. I asked all the teachers and they said he was a no show.

Did he ditch: Impossible, Christian is such a pansy when it comes to ditching. He was always too scared that his mother would find out.

But there was no other alternative. He would have had to have ditched. He didn't even go to first period which rules out illness unless two seconds after we separated he got sick.

There was only one logical conclusion, robots have finally taken over the world and they made their mark by abducting Christian.

Or Christian ditched to read the book. I was tempted to cross off the latter but my robot theory started seeming a little crazy. I couldn't understand why though. Why couldn't he wait till after school to read the book. He only needed to read two pages, why did he have to be absent the whole day.

It stung a little to think that he left me with the sharks for a book. He could have at least told me. We could have ditched together. He knows that I've always wanted to ditch.

I walked out of school feeling dejected. I had spent the last twenty minutes of my afterschool time looking for Christian only to come to the conclusion that I was ditched.

Heat ensnared my heart once I circled the parking lot only to find the "cool" parking spot empty. This just wasn't my day. No, I tried to tell myself, Mia could not have left me. I was only like five minutes late. Maybe she was waiting for me by the curve, I thought.

But I knew it wasn't true. Mia would never park by some random curve to wait for me. She warned me once that if I wasn't in the car when she got in she wasn't going to wait around. I never had a reason to before, until now that is.

_Damn it Mia._

The sun was pounding against my scull as I contemplated what had to be done. I had to walk eight miles in the sun to get to my house. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with walking but today was hotter than usual. The fabric of my shirt was sticking to my skin as I wiped the sweat off of the back of my neck.

_Well here goes nothing. _

I had walked at least a mile and already I could feel the red heat of my face. The hot rays of the sun doused me till I was sure my face resembled a tomato or a really bright radish.

The streets seemed endless like I could travel down them forever. The black tar of the street was like a reflector shining the rays of the hot sun directly at me, blinding me for moments on end.

Cars zoomed by leaving behind their thick smog for me to inhale, but from the corner of my eye I saw a black Mercedes slow down till it was level with me.

My heart started to beat faster. Crap; I was all alone. If they wanted to grab me and throw me in the car they could without a problem. Even in the broad daylight abduction wasn't unheard of.

I tightened my hands against my backpack ready to use it as a weapon. I had two thick textbooks and my binder in there. If I swung it hard enough I knew it would hurt.

I quickened my pace but I was conscious of the opening door and the sound of someone getting out of the car. Heavy footprints followed, heading in my direction.

I broke into a run but not before I heard my name called by a voice that sounded frighteningly familiar. I came to an abrupt stop and spun around.

His mouth was curved in a condescending smile; his brown eyes glowed with a certain mischief that was painfully attractive. Dimitri and all his glory was standing before me.

I didn't know if this was better or worse. I didn't exactly trust Dimitri.

"What are you doing here?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice but a little seeped in towards the end.

"I should be asking you the same question, Rose. You don't usually walk home."

"Sure I do." I lied. "I walk home all the time."

His eyes turned thoughtful. "She left you, didn't she."

"No, I—"

"Big sister Mia left little Rose to walk by herself." He snorted. "Typical."

"Shut up."

"Why, it's the truth. Mia's got everyone wrapped around her fingers yet she treats you like crap, doesn't she."

"You don't know her."

"Don't delude yourself, Rose." He walked towards me. "Her actions speak for themselves." He stopped an arm's length away from me.

I took a step back. It felt too intimate. "Like you're any better. You ignore everyone; give girls the cold shoulder when all they want to do is talk to you. Does that really make you a better person?"

"You and I both know that those girls wanted more than just talk." He quirked an eyebrow, "plus, I don't ignore everyone, only the ones who deserve it."

"How do you know they deserve it?"

"Intuition; I know people, and it's not hard to see when someone's an asshole." I found myself nodding my head in agreement. It was true, people here really were ass hats disguised in pretty faces.

"Now, you really want to know what separates me from the assholes?" He continued. "It's because I'm not afraid."

"What?"

"Don't you see; it's all about fear." He closed the gap between us and gripped my wrist, forcing me to look at him. His mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes held nothing but the truth. "They're afraid that this outfit will make them look like a loser, they're afraid that saying the wrong thing will make them an outcast so they second guess everything they say. They're afraid of who they make friends with. But most of all, they're afraid of you"

"Why?" My voice cracked. "Why are they afraid of me?"

"You know why?" He used his thumb to smooth out the pucker between my eyebrows. "Because you see things."

He let me go and took a step back. Letting me absorb what he just said. Everything he was telling me suddenly made sense. I see things; he knows about my dreams. But how?

"So you want a ride or something." Dimitri asked, nodding his head in the direction of his car. Honestly I had already forgotten the predicament I was in, too engrossed by our conversation. I still didn't trust him but suddenly I wanted nothing more than to be alone with him. I needed to find out more of what he knew.

"Sure." My answer surprised him; shock covered his face before a cocky smile appeared.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my charms." He grinned.

"You call it charms, I call it creepiness. Either way you seem like a freak, and that's not an insult in my case. If I would have known I would have invited you to join the club."

"The club?"

"Yep, CF: Club Freak."

He looked amused. "Oh, no need, I'm already the president."

"Since when was I impeached."

He leaned in and brushed his lips against my ear. "Since I out staged you." I shivered involuntarily, cursing myself for letting him get to me. "Let's go." I smelled a slight hint of aftershave as he whipped away making my knees shake with the mouthwatering smell of musk and man.

He walked towards the car and opened the door for me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He shrugged. "I've got manners. I open doors when in the presence of a lady."

I rolled my eyes at him and slid onto the leather seats of his car. I noticed that every surface of the car was swiped clean, it shined a glossy black; not exactly what I expected. I thought there would at least be dirty cloths, maybe a girl's underwear lying around from the recent shag. It was too clean.

Dimitri got in—the engine was still running—and turned the car in the opposite direction, away from my house. Maybe getting into the car with Dimitri wasn't such a good idea.

"You know my house is in the other direction."

"I know." He replied calmly.

"Then where are we going?" I whisper shouted.

"Calm down, Rose, I am not going to do anything to you." I risked a glance towards him and saw him staring back at me.

"Keep your eyes on the road." _What was he trying to do, get us killed?_

"I will if you promise to not have a panic attack on me."

"I am not having a panic attack!"

"Then why are you punching holes into my seat." I was about to argue when I saw that my hands were, in fact, gripping the sides of the seat so hard, I nearly ripped off the leather.

"Sorry." I whispered unclenching my hands from the seat.

"It's alright, nothing but a seat after all."

"So are you going to answer?" He was avoiding my question. I hope he didn't think I was stupid enough to let it go.

"Persistent are you." He glanced at my face before a mocking smile appeared. "I'm going to kill you, Rose. Tie you to my bed and defile you."

"Shut up." I growled. _And please be joking._

"Fine; I was lying. I'm going to defile you first and then kill you." He clenched his fist hard around the wheel making his knuckles turn white. "Or maybe I'm going to take you out to eat."

He gave me another smile but this one seemed forced. His chocolate brown eyes conveyed something different, a warning.

The look was gone in an instant but it chilled me to the core.

Dimitri drove excruciatingly slow to the local diner. I had a strange suspicion that he was just doing it to bug me. Either way he drove like a grandpa, getting several beeps from the cars behind him.

"Aren't you going to speed up?" He was making this 5 minute trip extend to a fifteen minute one.

"Why should I?"

"I don't know, maybe because you're driving 5 miles per hour. I do plan to get there before I get old."

"Well you must be ancient because there goes the diner." He pointed out with his finger.

The town plaza was a couple of clothing shops piled together in one corner and a movie theatre that took up the majority of the space. But cramped between the social limelight of our great town—heavy sarcasm—was the diner. The place was always crowded with teenagers when school let out, all looking to gossip while scarfing down food. I really didn't want to go there.

It must have shown on my face because Dimitri smirked down at me. "Don't tell me you're afraid." He was holding back a laugh, his eyes mocking. He pulled the car into a tight parking space and crossed his arms behind his head, expecting an answer. I didn't want to admit to Dimitri that he was right. I hardly knew him but I got the impression that he was one to tease.

"I'm not. It's just that there are better places to go eat." I lied. He didn't seem to buy it; his eyes narrowed.

"Really; like where?" Crap, I didn't think it through; especially when the only response I had was my house, and I couldn't take Dimitri there.

"Umm, that little chinese food place next to the school."

"You mean that abandoned restaurant that closed down years ago."_ Damn, I really need to go out more._

"Oh really it closed down, what a shame the food was good."

"I heard people would get food poisoning there." _Damn, how does he know this; didn't he just arrive here two weeks ago._

"How do you know? It happened years before you came here." He looked away from me and stared out his window. The interstate was zooming with passing cars, but the parking lot looked empty.

"News travels fast."

"Apparently," I let it go afraid that I would make a bigger idiot of myself if I continued.

I skimmed my hands on top of his leather seats and waited for him to say something, anything. He was still looking out the window sitting so still he looked like a statue.

The car was quiet; I didn't even want to breathe to not destroy the silence. I gave a loud intake of breathe when I couldn't hold it anymore. It snapped him out of his slumber. He whipped around to face me and cocked an eyebrow in question.

"What?" I asked.

"Were you really going to let me sit there while we rot in the heat of my car?" He shook his head. "You really should learn how to say something."

"I didn't want to disturb you." I argued.

"That doesn't matter. You can't take everyone's crap and stay silent about it Rose, sometimes you've got to let loose, and tell them to fuck off." My jaw almost dropped at his brashness but I knew that was the reaction he was expecting.

Instead I shrugged and said, "I don't take people's crap, they fling it at me. Can you blame me for not wanting to grab it, even if it is to fling it back."

"I won't blame you, Rose, but you will." For some reason what he said made me mad. Who the hell did he think he was to tell me what I will or not feel? I mean it's me, I know who I am.

I was just about to argue when he got out of the car, probably seeing what I was about to do from the pissed off look on my face. Dimitri had a knack for running away. I followed him out until we were both at the front of his car.

His black Mercedes was gleaming brightly, the rays of the sun hitting it in a way that made it look recently waxed.

Dimitri turned his face toward mine and said. "You still too afraid to go inside."

I looked at him annoyed, placing my hands on my hips. This seemed to amuse him more.

"It's alright, Rose, not all of us are born brave." He gave me a mocking smile. Something about that smile made me want to kick him in the shin.

Instead, I grabbed his hand in a brash moment and pulled him to the diner. I felt his fingers intertwine with mine in a silent approval. His hands were big and they engulfed my tiny ones; his fingers and palms were rough, calloused. In that moment I wanted to prove him wrong, and wipe that smile off his face.

"So now we're holding hands." He smirked. He looked so tall next to me, my head barely made it to his chest.

"Don't take it the wrong way Dimitri." It was the first time his name had rolled out of my tongue. I usually only thought it in my head, he seemed to notice because he beamed down at me.

We made it to the front of diner but I wasn't sure if my new found bravery was going to make it with me inside.

"Rose, just go in, I'm right here." And suddenly I wasn't freaking out anymore. Dimitri was right beside me and that seemed to comfort me. I wouldn't feel as much like a freak when the kids from school stared at me.

I opened the door of the Diner and felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. There was no one in here except for an elderly couple and three girls in the back corner.

"See, that wasn't so bad." There was a mocking tone in his voice.

I clenched my teeth. "You knew that no one would be here." I accused.

"I am appalled. How could you think so little of me," He wiggled his eyebrows. "But it did make you hold my hand." He pointed down to our still adjoined hands.

I quickly dropped his hands and clenched my fists. "You, I. Ehh." I couldn't believe it. I had just been duked by Dimitri just so he could what, hold my hand?

"You got to admit, you liked it." He teased, wiggling his fingers in front of my face.

"Sure, sure. If thinking that makes you happy, Dimitri, then go ahead. Just make sure you know that you're living a lie."

"A very happy lie." He extended his hand out to me. "You want a repeat of our previous action."

I snorted. Who did he think he was, Mr. Smooth?

"What did I say about getting cocky, Rose. It doesn't suit you." He let his hand dropped, and it might have been a trick of the light, but for a second he looked dejected.

I felt like I needed to cheer him up. "So Dimitri, where are all your moves. Or did you lose those when you lost your dignity."

That caused his eyes to brighten up. His face transformed back into his flirty manner.

"You really want me to use the moves on you don't you."

I scoffed.

"Really, Rose, there's no shame in the truth. Besides, I'll let you in on a secret. You don't need any moves to get a girl's attention." He looked me up and down before grinning at me.

"I am really getting tired with your flirting one second, reprimanding me another strategy. If you think you can pick up chicks that way you're wrong."

"Are you sure about that." He glanced at me from under his eyelashes.

"Positive." I said, thankful that my voice didn't break.

"Well then what do you call this. Did I not pick you up, and am I not taking you out to eat. Something must obviously be working." He winked. I was almost too infuriated with his logic to not be affected by that wink, almost.

"This," I waved my hand around the diner, "is nothing more than two barely acquaintances having dinner. Unless you usually call picking up a stranded girl that has no choice but to get in a car with you then forcing her to diner a date."

"I do actually; how else do you think I get dates?"

"Uhh, never mind. Let's just eat." I glowered at him.

Dimitri led us to a secluded table in the corner. It was away from anyone's prying eyes, the seats look cushioned and very comfortable. I gave him a questioning look.

"This is my favorite table." He explained.

"You come here often?" I asked, surprised. It was hard to imagine Dimitri in our local diner, it was too normal. He always shied away from the public, preferring to be alone.

"How else do you think I knew it would be empty at this time." Of course, Dimitri, would know about a lonely place, it must be his life mission to find every secluded part in the world. It's probably where he hides when he's supposed to be in the cafeteria.

He would know a lot about empty places, I thought. An empty place like an abandoned room, one that has oozing gray walls. If there was a place here in our town, I was sure, Dimitri, would know of it.

"What are you thinking?" He asked. Umm, maybe about the fact that you could be the psychopathic murderer that haunts my dreams and killed Natalie.

"Just wondering what they serve here." He didn't seem to believe me, but let it drop.

A waitress appeared quickly with our menus. She had fiery red hair and blue eyes. She looked several inches taller than me, and I was panged to see how beautiful she was. Even in her uniform she was glowing.

As soon as she set our menus down she turned quickly towards Dimitri. "What are you going to have today, Dimitri, the usual?" She asked, fluttering her eyes to make herself seem alluring. I found myself bothered by the way she talked to him. It was a little too flirty. And even though I knew, Dimitri, and I weren't really on a date, for all she knew we could have been. She should at least have some respect.

Seeing how comfortably she talked to him, I came to the conclusion that she was his usual waitress. I mean, how else would she know his name. Maybe she figured she had dibs on him, or maybe she saw my appearance and pegged me in the friend category. I put less effort than usual in my wardrobe this morning. My jeans were worn out and baggy. And the black shirt I wore was two sizes too large. I didn't even want to think about the state of my hair. A mile walk in the heat doesn't do wonders to it.

"Of course Rachel." He smiled at her making her giggle. Of course now he acts like he interacts with human, when he's with Rachel.

"Right away Dimitri." She said sweetly. I saw her arrange—unnecessarily—her tight uniform, bringing more focus to her large chest.

Did I really have to wear this unappealing blouse? I thought. My chest looked practically nonexistent, hidden behind the hideously large shirt.

She stared at him for longer than necessary, when she finished, before turning reluctantly in my direction. I could see the tips of her ears glow red, matching her hair. She didn't like that I was here with Dimitri.

Her reaction made me exhale in relief. Dimitri didn't bring girls with him when he came here; she wouldn't be so bothered with me if he did.

"And for you." She asked between clenched teeth. Her eyes were focused on her note pad but as soon as she lifted them she recoiled back as if someone had burned her.

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy her reaction. But my enjoyment was cut off when I realized Dimitri, could see everything. I turned to look at him and found him staring at me. Not in a weird gawking way, he looked at me with knowing eyes. He was expecting this to happen.

I was about to apologize when he silenced me with a look.

"She'll have the tilapia?" He said it like a question but I was nodding along to it. I liked fish.

"And some lemonade." I added. "Strawberry lemonade."

"Thanks for suggesting the plate." I said once Rachel left. "How did you know I liked it?"

"I didn't. But you looked like a fish person." He shrugged.

"Well I do like fish." I conceded.

He laughed warmly. "I knew it."

I laughed along until I remembered something."Back in school, when you said that you watched me, did you mean that you watch me when I'm outside of school too." I mumbled out. My cheeks were bright pink, but what other reaction could I have when asking a guy if he stalks me.

His eyebrows raised up in surprise. "Are you asking me if I stalk you?" He asked, incredulously. My cheeks only turned pinker.

"You are, aren't you. Do you really think I spent my time outside your window watching what you do Rose. Don't you think I have a life, one that doesn't revolve around you?"

I shrunk down in my chair, humiliated.

"Because if you really think that the highlight of my day is when I spy on you, then well…" He caught my eye before quickly looking away. "Then I'd say you're right."

I looked up, startled. "You should probably close your curtains. You don't know what kind of creep could be lurking about waiting for a peep show." He grinned. "Luckily you gave me mine yesterday."

I was pretty sure he was joking, but I wasn't sure if everything he said was a lie. Maybe only the last part about me giving him a peep show. I was actually really hoping that last part was a lie.

His face went back to being serious. I never really noticed till now, but when his face was serious he looked older, more mature.

"You done with your soft core sexual harassment." I asked.

He smiled cheekily at me. "You know, that's why I like you Rose. You're not afraid to tell me my shit. In your attitude you're completely unpredictable did you know that." He tipped his head sideways as if to get a better look at me. "Sometimes you can really pull the rug out of people's feet."

"Thank you." I said, taking it as a complement. I leaned in closer to him. "Tell me something." I asked.

"I was only joking." He grinned. " So what do you want to know?"

"When we were in school, what did you mean when you said that I see thing."

He covered my mouth with his hand. His eyes looked around, alarmed, as if someone would pop out any second. His reaction scared me. I normally would have swat his hand away, but I sensed the danger.

He seemed to calm down. His face took up the joking quality in it. "Don't be alarmed, darling. Your lips looked ripe for the taking." He took off his hand from my mouth, but he slid a finger along my lips. "So smooth and beautiful." He whispered and leaned in towards me. I started to lean back—away from him—but he reached out and grabbed my shoulders. I closed my eyes tightly but instead of feeling his lips on mine I felt them close to my cheeks. "Quiet." He whispered against my cheek. "You never know who could be listening."

I didn't quite get his comment but I felt the tension radiating off of him.

"Who?" I whispered back. To an outside we looked like we were kissing. My mouth was lingering on the corner of his.

He finally released me and settled back in his seat. "You don't know." He answered, tilting his head up, thoughtful. "You should know but you don't."

"Know what?" He looked at me like if I was missing something.

"Right, right, can't talk about it." I tapped my fingertips against the table hoping the lemonade came soon. I really needed something to do before I exploded with questions.

"So there's not one thing you can tell me, like a hint." I said desperately. I had tapped my fingers against the table four hundred times before I couldn't take it anymore.

His lips curved up in a half smile. "You don't listen do you? But there might be something I could tell you, but not now, wait till after."

"But that might take forever."

"Actually it might take a few minutes, the food is already here." I turned to the direction he was looking at and saw Rachel carrying two heavy plates. Her face still looked hesitant and this time when she set the plates on the table she didn't look at me. She didn't even speak, not even to give Dimitri one of her flirty smiles. I guess even he was off her list.

We ate quietly only bantering a couple of times. At one point I might have thrown a piece of my fish at his face but stopped once I received my own face full of mashed potatoes.

"I still have some potato in my ear." I argued as we walked out of the diner. "Did you have to throw so much. I only threw a tiny piece of fish."

"Yeah, but that smells more."

"Yes, it does smell, it smells good. Not unlike this potato." I tried rubbing some of the remaining potato off of my ear when I felt his fingers slide along it. I stared in shock as he brought his fingers to his mouth.

"Did you just eat the potato I had in my ear?" I asked.

"Mmm, not bad, actually added extra flavor." He licked his lips before grinning up at me. "We should do that again."

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you actually ate something that was in my ear. Seriously I wouldn't even do that, and it's my ear."

"What the hell is so disgusting about your ear, don't you clean it."

"Yes but—"

"See, no problem." I was going to argue about how it is a problem when I realized something. "Can you tell me now?" I whispered.

He looked at me for a long time, probably deciding if it was the right time, before nodding. "Ok, but in the car."

I didn't need to be told twice; I took the lead and headed to the car.

I was impatient, and he seemed to be taking his time opening the car. I couldn't get in their fast enough when he unlocked my door. Going as far as buckling up and closing the door before he even got in.

"So," I thrummed my fingers against my seat belt, "who could be listening?"

"You can't even wait till I turn on the car."

"What do you think I have, unlimited patience?" I grumbled. I had waited through the whole entire meal, I don't think I can handle more.

He turned on the car and reversed it out of the parking spot. I exhaled in frustration as he purposely ignored me.

"Dimitri!" I screamed.

"Okay, Okay. Don't get your panties in a twist." He said once we hit the street. "I'll tell you one hint." He fixed me with a hard gaze. "And it's the only thing I could tell you. You got that."

"Why can you only tell me one thing?"

He thought about it for a second. "I'm kind of forbidden to tell you."

"What?" Did I hear that right?

"I'm forbidden. I can't tell you anything. It's something you have to figure out on your own. Well, not entirely on your own, I just can't be the one to tell you."

"Then why are you giving me a hint?" I asked.

His gaze turned pensive. "Because it's the only thing I can give you without breaking the rules."

I stared at him shocked; there were so many questions I wanted to ask him. But I also knew that those questions would be unanswered; whoever was forbidding Dimitri must mean business, if he won't dare defy them.

"What is it? The hint."

He kept his gaze fixed on the streets. He was flying down the intersection no longer going in his grandpa pace. This must be a tough talk for Dimitri; he couldn't drive fast enough.

We made it to my house faster than I thought possible. I didn't even tell him my directions. I decided to ignore that part. He kept the engine on as we sat idle on the street.

He didn't look at me when he finally answered. "The book."

"What book?"

"You know which book." I did know; I just didn't want it to be that one.

"What about the book?"

He glanced at me. "What else are you going to do with a book? Read it of course." He exhaled annoyed.

"I already did." I huffed. I didn't like it when someone undermined me.

"Sorry that was rude." He said sincerely. A little twinge of a Russian accent was laced with his words. I didn't know if he noticed but I certainly did. "But if you read the book, then you must know."

"Know what? All I read was nonsense; nothing but old legions, witchcraft, and demons, all stuff that doesn't exist."

He tsked. "You shouldn't be so quick to discredit. Especially with what you've seen."

"And what about these people, do they have eyes peaking around that I should know of."

"Darling, you should know about a lot of things. Sadly I can't be the one to tell you."

He turned his head back out the window, towards my house. "You should go now; your family will be worried."

A thought occurred to me. "And what about your family, do they know about this."

"Family," He smiled halfheartedly, "that would be nice."

"What, a family? Don't you have one?"

It took him a while to answer. "I did…..once."

"Once? What about now, you have to have a family, at least step parents or something."

"Step parents." He said it like if it was a foreign word.

"Don't you have anyone?" A hint of sadness laced my words. How could he have no one?

"Well, I wouldn't say no one; just, not someone worth having."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. I wanted to tell him so much more, comfort him somehow. I almost pulled him into a hug but figured that would be stupid.

"Don't be sad. Not for me." He said, probably figuring from my face what I was feeling. He gave me a grim smile. "Just go inside." I quickly undid my belt and opened the door to get out, when I thought of something.

"Dimitri," I asked, "If I figure out what's in the book, then can you tell me more about it or will you still be forbidden."

He gave a heart stopping smile. "You catch on fast." I took that as a yes.

I slid out of the car in one swift motion and watched as he drove away.

I was more confused about Dimitri than ever. I shivered a little when I realized I was starting to trust him; I mean if he really was a murderer wouldn't he have killed me when I was with him. He could have easily drove me somewhere secluded and killed me. Nobody knew I was with him; it would be the perfect crime and no one would suspect him. It would be labeled as some random act of violence.

One thing was for sure; as soon as Dimitri turned the corner I reached into my jean's pocket and took out my cell phone. I needed to have a little chat with Christian concerning the book.


	6. Chapter 6 Questions

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I was dealing with finals and projects for class. It was hectic. Anyways I hope you guys like this chapter, I made it a long one to make up for the hiatus. Please tell me if you like it or not. Have a lovely day.**

I tiptoed into my house and quietly shut the door so it only made a little squeak. I winced when I heard it; my father had bionic ears, he could hear a drop of milk from miles away.

"Rose Hathaway," I flinched at the full use of my name. "Where have you been?" I turned around slowly almost savoring the last nano seconds I had before I was met with my dad.

His shrewd eyes—the same brown color as mine—stared at me with a mixture of concern and bemusement.

I realized then what I had to do. I felt the impulse to protect Mia even though she left me stranded.

"I had to stay after school for a project." I thought quickly. "It was kind of last minute."

"Why didn't you call?" His stature wasn't that of a tall man, he was around 5'9", and had the tan skin I inherited. I was told I looked a lot like my father; we had the same messy hazelnut hair and the prominent cheekbones.

"Sorry; I didn't think about calling. Which was stupid of me; I won't do it again." I promised sincerely.

I was more of a daddy's girl; my mother always preferred Mia because she could take her shopping and buy her little dresses that highlighted her beautiful face. Mia looks like a younger version of my mother, so she was able to parade her daughter with the angel face around. When I came, let's just say I wasn't the most attractive baby; I grew into my looks, a little bit but I have too much of my dad in me. So while my mother took Mia to do girly things my father took me out to play sports. We too became distant once the weirdness set in but he understands me more. He isn't like the rest of my family; he doesn't try to change me into something I am not.

"I'm holding you to that promise." He said sternly. "Do you know how worried I was when I came home and found out you hadn't gotten here yet."

"Sorry." I said in a small voice. I didn't like to make my dad worried. His voice started taking up a deeper twinge of his Turkish accent when he was worried.

"It's ok." He patted me in the back. "Just don't do it again, ok, baby girl."

I smiled; I loved it when he used that nickname. It felt like no time had passed; I felt like a five year old girl again when he and I would pass the soccer ball around. He would always say you're doing great, baby girl, even though I really wasn't.

"Alright, Dad."

"Now go to the kitchen and eat, your mom made food." Uhh, food. I really did not feel like eating any.

"I'm kind of full." He looked at me strangely. "Because they fed us at my after school thingy." I lied horribly.

"Your after school thingy?" He glanced at me suspiciously. "What was it about again?"

"It was, umm," My mind had drawn a complete blank, "umm about, math?" I said it like a question.

He crossed his arms, "I don't know, you tell me."

"Rose!" My mother, the life saver, called me from the kitchen. "Rose, get in here."

"Sorry dad; got to see what mom wants." I called as I ran away from him and went into the kitchen. My mother was sitting down on the table looking out of our small white curtained window.

"I saw something interesting a couple of minutes ago." My mom told me ominously.

"And what was it?" My dad answered for me as he walked in behind me.

She turned around and looked at me with a smug smile. "I don't know." Her eyes twinkled with glee. "I might have seen a black Mercedes pull up, one that a handsome young man was driving."

I gasped out loud.

"And," she continued, "I might have seen a certain daughter of mine climb out of that car." She quirked an eyebrow. "Care to explain Rose."

I gulped audibly. The silence was thickening but my father broke it. "Mia sneaked out with some boy. Hell, I didn't even see her get out." He shook his head.

"Ibraham." My mother admonished. "I wasn't talking about Mia; I was talking about Rose." My mom's voice went soft.

My dad's eyes went as wide as saucers. It took him a while to answer but when he did, I was shocked to hear a smile in his voice. "So much for that after school thingy." He laughed.

I didn't get it, weren't parents suppose to be mad when they found out that there child lied to them about being with a boy.

"Why do you guys look so happy?"

"Because sweetie." My mother turned her blue eyes towards me. "I'm happy that you're getting more friends, maybe even a boyfriend."

I was left slack jawed. Boyfriend; Dimitri and me together. That was beyond impossible.

"Shouldn't you guys act like parents and tell me I can't date. Especially you dad, I thought higher of you than this complete disregard of my dating life."

"Baby girl, at this point I'm just happy you have a dating life." Well I never. I didn't know if I should break it to them now or wait till later; I still didn't exactly have a dating life.

"Calm down." I shushed them. "We're not dating, we just—.

We just had dinner, he paid for my food, he picked me up in his car and he drove me back home. It all sounded exactly how a date should be like. We bantered, we talked, we laughed, we got to know a little more about each other. Did I go on a date and not even know it?

"You just what?" My mother asked anxiously.

"We just had a date." I said shocked. I went on a date with Dimitri. I lived the dream that every girl from my high school has. Hell, I accomplished what my sister wanted and while she left me to go home and sit in her room I was having dinner with Dimitri. The irony.

"Wait a minute." My dad put his hand up to silence us. "I know I'm being lenient but I still expect this guy to come meet me."

"Come meet us." My mother chipped in. "You can invite him to dinner."

"Wait, wait, wait. You guys are going too far, we had like one date. Tomorrow he can wake up and not talk to me ever again; ignoring me for the rest of my life."

"Don't get too mellow dramatic, this isn't a soap opera. No one actually does that in the real world. And if they do well then there not worth it." My father signaled with his hands that that would be the end of my paranoia.

"Besides, what's not to like. You have a body that can be envied if you put on the right cloths. And with a little help from my makeup your face will be glowing with beauty. Dimitri won't be able to take his eyes off of you." Here it came, the inevitable you need to change talk. I knew it was just a matter of time before my mother brought it up.

"Janine." My father reprimanded my mother. "She is fine just the way she is; if this boy won't like her unless she's got makeup and girly dresses then he's not worth it." My father ended the conversation and I almost high fived him for standing in my favor.

I got out of the kitchen to avoid any further third degree my mom seemed to be dishing out, and went to my room.

Christian was going to get here in a couple of minutes. I called him before I entered the house. His phone rang several times before he managed to answer it. The voice that answered was almost unrecognizable, he sounded like a chain smoker; his voice all croaky and awful. I almost couldn't get past it to ask him what I needed.

But once I did he seemed more suspicious than ever for my want of the book. It took several reminders that he was the one who ditched me today for him to let me borrow the book. He owed me big time.

I took out my journal from my dark blue desk drawer and began doodling to keep my mind straight. It was all loops within loops looking like a tangled up web; my thoughts were no different.

Dimitri told me to read the book. Fine, I get that but what does he expect me to find? There was nothing in there but old remedies and some fictional creatures.

Unless, of course, the ritual; the one that was so similar to my dream. A thought occurred to me, maybe it wasn't about demons and portals. Maybe someone believed that demons and portals were real, and they imitated the ritual. The murder I'm witnessing could be the act of some psychopath that believes the rituals are true.

But then it would mean that I'm actually seeing a murder in my head, which is just as supernatural as demons.

This is hopeless; I was building something rational out of something that was completely un-rational. How could I criticize the demon theory if I myself believe I'm witnessing a murder through an out of body experience?

I heard the doorbell ring interrupting my jumbled thoughts. That had to be Christian. I rushed down the stairs before my parents could answer the door and was met by Christian already standing in my living room. He was under the hard gaze of my mother.

"Christian, you are here, good, come on lets go to my room." I said in a single breath.

"So, Christian," My mother kept staring at him until he flinched, "you and Rose be careful now."

"Of course Ma'm." Ma'm? Since when does Christian say Ma'm.

"Good." She walked back into the kitchen. Christian visible exhaled in relief.

"Ro, your mom is scary."

I looked at him hard. "What? Don't tell me you're still mad at me." I didn't answer. I turned away and led him upstairs without speaking.

"Ro, I'm sorry I left you, ok." He nudged me with his shoulder. "Can you forgive me?" He pleaded. He was going to have to beg a lot more than that to gain my forgiveness.

As soon as we made it to my room I shut the door behind him—I didn't want anyone to hear this—and released the fury of hell.

"What the hell is a matter with you? How could you leave me? No, how could you not invite me, you knew I always wanted to ditch." I yelled out. "You cared more about a book then me, your best friend in the whole wide world."

He put his arms on my shoulders. "Rose, call down. You need to breathe."

"I am breathing!"

"Good. Now do you want to hear the reason I had to ditch?" I frowned. "I promise it will be good." Damn, now I was curious.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." He better. "That passage, the one you showed me, I've read it before." His face scrunched up. "Well, I am not sure if I read it, but it sounded really familiar."

"Familiar?" It's a demon summoning ritual, how could that be familiar to anyone?

"I don't know why, it just is? The memory is like really far away I almost have to squint to remember it, but it's there, I know it."

"And why didn't you mention it before. It seems like something you would mention the second you heard it?"

"Because I didn't know I knew it till after I read the passage. It was like it brought back a memory I had long forgotten." I could tell from his voice that he was confused.

"That still doesn't explain why you ditched me."

"I am getting to that part." He shook his head at my impatience. "I wanted to know if maybe I had read it in another book. So I went home and looked through my stack. And the only way I could do that is if I faked an illness so my mom would let me stay. I couldn't bring you along, what was I going to tell her, I'm sick but let my friend stay with me in my room."

My fingers fidgeted in annoyance. "Couldn't you wait till after school to do that?"

"Rose" He gave me that_ are you kidding with me _face. "Have you seen how into this I am? Do you think I would have survived the whole day without knowing?" He did have a point. He would not have survived one hour let alone seven.

"Well you still should have told me, I was waiting for you at the table like a dumb ass."

He sagged in defeat. "Ok, I am guilty of that, sorry. But it was kind of a last minute decision. It came to me when I was walking to class."

"So, did you find the book?" I asked. Believe it or not I was dying to know.

"Nope, I could have heard that passage anywhere though. I'm not sure if it was necessarily a book, but it has to be. I spent my life with my nose in a book." His face became solemn. "If the book is back in the library we'll never find it. We've been through too many of their books to retrace our steps."

"What about The Seer's Handbook? Does that have anything about it?" I didn't know what compelled me to ask. It was like the words blurted from my lips without my knowledge.

"The what?"

"The Seer's Handbook, you know that book on your drawer." Why was I explaining this to him? He should know what book I am talking about. The title is kind of weird; it's not one you'd forget.

"Rose," He said slowly, "I don't have a book called The Seer's Handbook."

What? "But I saw it it was in your room yesterday." Was he lying straight to my face now?

"Rose, trust me, if there was a book in my room called The Seer's Handbook, I would know about it. I turned my room upside down yesterday looking through all of my books. There was not one in there called that. It was just my comics and the same old ones I've let you read."

"Ok then." I let it go. I knew what I saw though. That book was there, I was sure of it. But I was sure of Christian too, he looked so sincere. I couldn't not believe he was telling the truth.

"Here." He said as he passed me the book. "You asked me for this."

"Yes." I said as I grabbed the leather book. I had already forgotten about it. I was still thinking about the other one. There was something about the title that stuck with me. Seer; the word caused me to feel something in my chest. It was like trying to remember a dream you know you had, a dream that you try so hard to recall but your mind doesn't want to bring it back to you.

I set the book against my desk, saving it for later, before another thought occurred to me. Christian was kind of creepy and he loved scowering the town for places to hang out in. He always said he felt more at peace when he was out of his house. Christian might have found the place I'm looking for in one of his scowers.

There was something deep inside me that knew my dreams were true. I couldn't explain it, but the feeling was there; always looming, never letting me be at peace. I knew suddenly with such certainty why the dreams were not letting me be at peace. It was like I had known all along and refused to believe it till this moment. The dreams were not going to leave me alone till I found it; till I found the truth, till I found who killed Natalie.

It was like a lightning bolt had struck me; I didn't want to believe it at first. I didn't want Natalie to be dead, but I knew that she was. She didn't run away like the rumors said.

"Christian, do you know of an empty house, maybe one that's been abandoned and has graffiti on the door and scratches." I said, recalling the dream.

His head snapped up. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Just answer the question." I whispered impatiently.

"Maybe," he looked at me his eyes narrowed. He knew exactly the place I was talking about. I could see it.

"Where?" I stared at him till he fessed up.

"By Whittier Road."

My breathing stopped completely. "That's where the cemetery is at."

"Yeah, it's in a little shacked up corner, a few feet away from all the tomb stones, there's this little room. No one goes in there. It was made like over 50 years ago by the coroner; he was the only one who used it till he died. Now it's just there; taking up space. No one really knows about it unless they venture in the cemetery and stumble upon it. It's really hidden, behind tress and mossy vines. It blends in."

I looked at him weirdly. "When the hell were you venturing in the cemetery?"

"It's a nice place to go and think, don't look at me that way."

"What way?"

"You're getting that face. The one that says you're crazy but you are too nice to say it out loud."

_That was exactly what I was thinking._

"You tell me you basically hang out in a cemetery and you expect me to be all normal about it."

"Rose, look at me." Christian's, shaggy black hair fell over his face; his beady blue eyes peaked from behind the strands. "Don't I look like someone who hangs out in a cemetery?"

Looking at it, he kind of does. He looked like one of those psycho kids you would find hiding behind graves, awaiting there next victim.

"Okay, you've got a point. It still doesn't mean you should be proving it. I thought you went against conforming."

"I am." He looked at me seriously. "Rose, you shouldn't go there."

"Where?" I asked innocently.

He gave an annoyed breath. "You know what I am talking about; the room. Don't go there."

I lifted my chin up. "And why not?" I challenged.

"You wouldn't like it." Christian didn't explain it further, even though I kept pestering him about it.

He left shortly after, leaving the heavy questions unanswered. Christian was becoming a mystery to me; he was hiding something, I didn't like it.

Christian and I were supposed to tell each other everything. We never kept secrets. He was the only person in the world I could trust, and now I didn't know if I could say the same.

My life was becoming a mess. It scared me to think that the person I was beginning to trust more was Dimitri. Crap, what had this world come too.

I spent the next several hours busying myself with school work. Calculus especially took up a great deal of my time, with all the derivatives and anti-derivatives. I mean why have an anti-derivative; is it like the derivatives evil brother.

I was in the middle of my English homework when I snapped. I could not keep up the pretense anymore. The book was just lying there, comfortably, on my desk, begging me to open it. I had avoided it long enough.

As soon as I realized this I ran the short distance to my desk and slammed open the book in my eagerness.

I scanned the same words I remembered—silly of me to believe anything had changed. Still I went through it all pausing at the page I discovered this morning—really this morning, it seemed much longer than that.

There was something about this page, the yellowed paper held much meaning to me. The shadow and the ritual, those were the only parts in the book that directed towards my dreams. I knew they were important when I read it. I knew that this is what I was seeing: A demon summoning ritual.

The portals of hell would have to open in order for a demon to come out. And somebody performed the ritual using Natalie's blood. Whether they opened the portals—which I seriously doubt—or were disappointed with the result is not clear. What if it is some psycho killer that is out there? Is that what Dimitri was trying to tell me, that there is a deranged murderer on the loose.

But why couldn't he just tell me that? Unless, what did Dimitri say. He said something about not being too quick to discredit the book. Could it be that Dimitri believes in all of this demon crap?

The cold truth hit me. Of course Dimitri believes in it, how else could he believe in my dreams. And how he thinks that ears are everywhere hearing us. I felt like an idiot. The only one who believes my dreams is a guy who believes in demons. That thought didn't really help, in fact it discouraged me. How could I believe I was seeing Natalie's death? How could I let the thought that someone actually believed me turn into this whole chase for a murderer that doesn't exist?

Natalie was probably having a big laugh over the scandal she created. Maybe she went to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. She could be anywhere, and me having a dream that she was killed doesn't mean anything. People have dreams all the time and they don't blow it into this huge deal. They usually forget about them. Which is exactly what I should do?

I had to convince myself that Natalie was alive, that she was well. Only she wasn't.

The ten o clock news broke it first. The body of a sixteen year old girl was found in the trunk of a car. Apparently neighbors had reported a foul smell coming from inside it. The police were all over the scene ruling the cause of death as murder.

According to the reporters there was a gash in the victim's neck. I didn't need to see the next headline to know who it was, Natalie Dashkov.

I woke up the next morning, startled. My heart beat thumped erratically, and I was taking shallow gasps of air. Finding Natalie's body only made everything more real, more scary.

The images of my latest dream were etched permanently into my mind. I just wanted this to be over already.

I spent the rest of the morning getting ready, trying to avoid the dream at all cost. But even as I finished dressing I couldn't help a glance at the book. The early morning light shined through my window landing directly on my desk, illuminating the book.

I made a fast decision and grabbed it, stuffing it into my backpack. It might come in handy when I need to beat the shit out of someone, I told myself. But I knew that wasn't the only reason.

My eyes glanced quickly toward the bottom of my bed. I wasn't desperate enough to get it. What was hidden underneath would hopefully never come to use.

I rushed down the stairs—I was running late—and barely managed to grab a banana before I was shoved out the door by my sister.

It was a strange morning; Mia didn't say one word to me. Even as she evaluated my outfit she kept her mouth shut. We were usually quiet but we always exchanged at least a couple of words.

Mia kept her head inclined straight ahead; blue eyes always on the road, pink pouty lips set in a grim line. Something was not right. I wondered if she heard the news.

"Mia." I said breaking the silence—the radio wasn't even on. "Are you ok?" No answer. "Is this because of Natalie?

She glanced at me confused. "Natalie, why would this be about her?"

"Because of what happened to her."

She scoffed "I didn't know her. So she died, big deal, from what I remembered she was an attention hog. Always trying to get people's attention. She was annoying if you ask me."

"Okay then." I said quickly. I mean what do you respond to that. I know Mia and Natalie didn't really talk, but you tend to talk nice about someone once they're dead. At least most of us do. The irony is that when Mia arrives to school, she's going to be acting like if Natalie was a saint. She can only ever be real with me.

"So." I dragged. "Why were you so quiet?"

"You still don't get it do you." She looked upset. "Don't you even remember what you did?"

"Umm no." What did I do? If anything I should be mad at her, she left me yesterday.

She looked at me expectantly. "What?" I asked.

"Do you really need to ask?"

"Yes." What did she think I was; a mind reader.

"You," she glanced at me before turning her eyes back on the road, "you were with Dimitri yesterday. IN HIS CAR!" Oh, that.

"How did you know about that?" I gasped.

"I saw you get out of his car from my window." She sounded mad. "What the hell Rose, you know that I like him. That I've wanted to talk to him for like ever and you're trying to snag him from under me."

I could tell that she was trying to make me feel bad. It kind of worked. I mean, my sister did like him, and I was being a pretty fucked up sister by going out with him; but in my offense it wasn't my fault.

Actually—"This is your fault." I told Mia.

"Mine." She looked at me shocked. "How could you blame this on me?"

"Because you left me stranded in school yesterday."

"So you looked for some payback. Way to hit below the belt." She looked at me like she didn't know me. "I expected better from you Rose, you're not like this. This isn't you."

"I didn't try to get revenge." I yelled out. "I was walking home when Dimitri saw me and offered me a ride. That was it."

She looked like she didn't quite believe me. "Then why did you last so long getting home. It wouldn't have taken that long."

"Because he took me to eat—"

"Aha. I knew it." She sounded betrayed.

"Let me finish. He took me to eat because he needed to ask me a question on umm," I thought of something fast, "on calculus. He needed help with his homework and since I'm the only person he's talked to he thought he should ask me. So it took us a long time to finish the work."

"And that's it." She asked skeptically.

"Yep."

"Good." She immediately relaxed. "I knew it couldn't be anything. Especially with how you looked. No offense sis, but you kind of looked like shit yesterday." Great, just great.

She turned on the radio and started humming to the upbeat pop song that was playing. She was completely content even going as far as taping her fingers against the wheel and swaying her hips in her seat.

Yep, she was completely content that Dimitri was still free. Too bad he was a little more freaky than she likes. I would love to see the look on her face when she finds out Dimitri has more things in common with Christian than with her.

As soon as we got to school, as expected, the topic of everyone's conversation was Natalie. The students were all huddled in little circles talking in hushed tones. Many were speculating over who could have done it. Someone even went as far as suggesting that she paid someone to do it so she could be the focus of attention. I couldn't believe someone was stupid enough to say that. It boiled my blood even more to find people agreeing with them.

That was the first time I rushed to first period. I couldn't stand to hear any more of their idiocy.

I sat in my usual seat and fidgeted, my knee kept bouncing up and down, and I couldn't make it stop for anything in the world. Everyone kept running their mouth about Natalie, I couldn't escape her.

Mason was once again sitting in the seat behind mine, thankfully. I really needed to talk to Dimitri. He might be the only one who could help me. This whole Natalie thing was driving me crazy. And the dream, last night's dream. I couldn't get it out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes I would see it.

This wasn't a normal dream. In my dreams there were always two people: Natalie and the shadow. But this time when I surfaced into the candle covered room someone else appeared.

I stood there, in my normal spot, as I watched Natalie's impending doom. I watched as the shadowed man emptied her blood in a bowl and drew with it upon the floor. My usual dreams had always gone this far.

I was surprised when I watched him finish the crest, he never finished the drawing. His blood covered hand traced the last images of the swords piercing the crest before he stood and turned his back on the drawing, as if he didn't want to see it. The room had gotten so hot at this point; I was surprised I didn't burst into flames. And then, impossibly so, it got hotter. So hot I could barely breathe; the heat ensnared me in a cocoon.

My vision blurred but I felt rather than saw the huge hole that appeared in the center of the room. The room shook and the floor crumbled to bits it was like a huge earthquake hit one small part of the earth—it was only about four feet wide.

I chanced a glance and felt my breath come in rasps because before me a mist appeared to leak out of the hole. It looked kind of like smog, before it got darker and chunkier. Even worse, the feeling it brought sucked at my soul. I was drained of everything only to be replaced by a deep burning that scratched at my insides, like a monster burst free in my belly. In that moment I wanted to die. I wanted to be taken away from this world to escape the horror I was feeling. I would do anything to leave; as soon as that thought entered my head the mist seemed to gravitate in my direction. As if I had called to it. In my lucrative state the mist appeared to have eyes, eyes that saw through me. Eyes that knew I was there.

The dream seemed so familiar. With a shock I remembered why? When I was eleven, there was a whole month I got weird dreams. It was right after people started calling me a freak. And in these dreams a dark mist would would have dark piercing eyes and claws from hell. I was always scared of it. The feeling it brought burned me to the bone. I would wake up screaming like a lunatic. My dad would come rushing into my room to calm me down, I was hysterical. I would cry into his chest each night and tell him they were out to get me. He would always ask what, what baby girl, what is out to get you. And I would answer back, demons. Demons were out to get me.

I was transported back into the presence when Dimitri entered the classroom. His tall frame walked through the door, menacing and charming all at once. He was a package deal; a two for one.

He took the seat next to mine, his dark hair in its usual disarray. One glance at me told him everything. He knew that I knew. It was written all over my face.

We sat there in silence. I wanted nothing more than to harass him with questions. Everyone in class was focused on gossiping about Natalie, they wouldn't notice.

I opened my mouth to speak when he beat me to it.

"I know what you're going to say." He said. "And let me tell you now that I am not going to answer them here."

I huffed in annoyance. Why do I always have to wait with him?

The class quieted down once Mr. Nagy entered. He didn't acknowledge any of us; he only wrote down our assignment for the day, on the board, and assigned us to work in pairs. Probably thinking the arrangement worked out perfectly since we were all sitting in pairs to begin with.

The sound of pencil on paper filled the whole classroom. The quiet whispers of the students were hardly noticeable. "So what changed your mind?" Dimitri asked, ten minutes into our work.

I wasn't sure if I should unleash the whole Natalie dream on him. I didn't know him that well, and the dream felt really personal. I wanted to keep it to myself until I was sure I could trust him with it.

Instead, I gave him the gist of what caused it. "I saw something." I could tell he got what I was meaning.

"And what was it?" The curiosity was evident in his tone.

"So you're allowed to ask me about my dreams but I can't ask you anything. Is this how it's going to work?"

"You couldn't ask me yesterday." He whispered more quietly than before, "but today I can answer a few things; just not here." He looked around. "And maybe you should save the dream for later, too. I don't even know why I was asking you. I guess I was just curious."

"So later?" I asked. _Please promise me you're going to tell me, I am dying over here._

He thought about it. "Sure, later."

"Mr. Nagy." A voice from the back called. My sister. "I don't get these problems you assigned." She currently had two partners because she was sitting alone—probably still hoping Dimitri would sit next to her. Her partners were her two cheerleader best friends. They sometimes came over to our house to discuss with Mia the advantages of make-up and stuff like that.

"Well, Miss Hathaway, you have to resolve them with your partners." Mr. Nagy perched his glasses on the tip of his nose.

"Can I switch partners? I think I need someone else to help me." She pouted her full pink lips. Oh no. I could see where this was going. Even in light of everything that happened, my sister would never give up on a chase.

"I don't see any problem in that."

"Thank you." She squeaked innocently. Only I could see the horns popping out. She gathered her papers and came straight toward Dimitri and I. Without giving it another thought she pulled up and empty chair and sat it next to Dimitri; a little too close to him, if you ask me.

"So, Dimitri, I hear you're good with math." She said smiling prettily at him, dimpling. Her shiny hair shimmered down her shoulders and her eyes appeared larger with the dose of mascara she dapped on.

"Really, from whom might I ask?"

"Well, because you and Rose worked on homework together, yesterday."_Crap._

"Did we?" He turned his head towards me. I gave him a pleading look with my eyes. "Oh yes, we did."

I exhaled relieved that he had backed me up.

"Right after I had my way with her on the restaurant table."

My jaw nearly dropped. Shit I spoke to soon.

"You what? With my sister, what?" Mia was speechless.

"Oh gosh, he's joking Mia." I said quickly. "Seriously, how could you believe that? And you," I pointed at Dimitri, "Have got to stop making all these sexual comments."

"Sexual comments," He smirked. "And here I thought we were talking about the lovely dinner we had."

I snorted. "Oh I'm sure that's what you were talking about."

"Why are you trying to dirty my gentleman manners with your sick mind?" He said mockingly.

"Ha, gentleman manner. You wouldn't know a gentleman if he poked you in the eye with his pinky finger."

"Yes, my dear, but then he wouldn't be a gentleman." A throat clearing forced us to straighten. We had been unconsciously leaning towards each other; our arms were brushing, our chest nearly meeting.

"Well, going back to the class work." Mia began; it had been her throat that had cleared.

"Yes, Mia, back to the work." Dimitri stared at her straight in the eyes clearly flustering her. "You can copy my work, I finished it minutes ago, and then when you're done you can time a certain experiment I thought of. It's about human pheromones; I want to see how long Rose could resist mine before we have at it. You could time that too if you want."

I elbowed him, hard, in the ribs, but it just ended up hurting my elbow because ow, he was really ripped. Not to the extreme where he was scary ripped; he had long lean muscles which looked wonderful.

I looked at him hard. He was doing this on purpose. "Fine, I guess I might lose against Rose's pheromones too. They do smell quite intoxicating; mouthwatering." His eyes glinted.

Mia kept looking back and forth between us. "Well, Mia, you wanted to know how Dimitri is, and now you have unleashed the asshole." I told her.

She was speechless; she just sat there staring straight toward the white board. I don't think she expected Dimitri to be like this, he was a little too straight forward. Mia liked her men to tell her how pretty she was, and to always admire her. She didn't want them to have a mind of their own. And Dimitri was exactly the opposite. He was a smart mouth, who said what he believed, and was a major tease.

"I think you pushed her to the edge." I whispered to Dimitri. Mia's eyes looked empty; they were no lights on in her brain.

"She'll get over it." He shrugged. "You still want to do the experiment." He grinned.

"Shut up." I laughed.

"Is that a yes?" His eyes were smoldering. I didn't answer.

When the bell rang I fully expected Dimitri to rush out of the room. He surprised me when he stayed in his seat. I put all my things back into my pack and stood up to leave when he stopped me.

"You don't have anything important to do right now, do you?" He asked.

"Aside from going to class, no I don't."

"Good, let's go." He pulled me out of my seat and led me into the hallway, pushing his way through the horde of people.

"Where are we going?"

He turned his head towards me, "somewhere we could be alone."

We waited till the hallway cleared before I let him take me out of school. It was easier than I expected, we simply walked out the front double door and were met by no opposition. Why hadn't I done this before?

His black Mercedes was parked in the back of the parking lot. I was worried that a school official would spot us, but again, no one was out there. It was too easy, getting out of school.

When we reached his car he went ahead of me, stopping in front of the passenger door. For one wild second I thought he was going to let me drive but then he opened the door and signaled for me to get in.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"What? You accused me of not being a gentleman. I need to change your mind somehow. Isn't opening doors for a lady the most gentlemanly thing a man could do?"

"So you'll open doors for me just to prove a point? What else can I make you do?" I said as I slid into the car.

"Anything you want, darling."

I chose to ignore the sexual innuendo. He closed the car door and made his way around the car.

"So, are we going to any place in particular?" I asked once we were settled in. He turned the car on and sped away, leaving the school behind.

"Nope, were staying in the car." I looked at him weirdly. "What, there's no place safer than in this baby."

"So what, your car has armor that protects against demons." I clasped my hand over my mouth hard enough to make a smacking sound. I couldn't believe I'd said that out loud.

Dimitri didn't say anything, but he was gripping the wheel harder than usual. I could see the blue veins bulging out of the back of his hands; they looked like they were going to explode from the force.

"Not armor." He finally answered. "I just know for sure that no one is in here hearing us. Besides that the car is moving at a pretty high velocity so our voices are pretty much distorted by the sound of my engine." No one is hearing us? Like a demon? Was I actually believing this now? I think I was; I spent all those years helping Christian out convincing myself that all these things were crap, but maybe deep down I believed it as much as he did. Why else would I have helped him out for so long?

"Let me get this straight. I needed to read the book that say's nothing about this crap because—"

"Well, I would prefer you had the other book but you don't." Other book?

"What other book?"

"The one you were supposed to get." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I'm sure my faced conveyed how lost I felt. "Hell, that's right, you don't know anything about this crap." He looked like he was struggling to find the right words."You see, you were supposed to be given a book when you became of age."

"But I'm still not of age, I'm only sixteen—"

"Not that age, when I say that it's more like when you hit puberty. You were chosen at a young age, and the one who chose you was supposed to give you a book when you became of age. That way you wouldn't be heading into this blindly." He rushed out.

Puberty. I hit it when I was around eleven. In my sixth grade year.

"What happened to me when I became of age?"

He looked at me with those deep brown eyes before he answered. "You became a seer. Well technically you always were, it just laid dormant within you till you matured."

A seer, why did that name sound so familiar to me? Where had I heard it before? Could it be….

"Why didn't I get the book?" Was it possible that whoever made me like this lost hope in me? Did they deicide I wasn't worth being a seer?

He looked at me sincerely, "I don't know. A seer is never left blind, it's unheard of." The lines on his face became worried. "We can't let anyone find out about you. If they know that there's an untrained seer, well." He shot a nervous glance at me. "Let's just say you don't want to find out."

I knew it; all along I knew I was different. It just felt weird to have my suspicions confirmed. I felt like a huge weight lifted off me. I finally knew what was wrong with me. But at the same time I didn't. What the hell is a seer?

"So I'm a seer." He nodded. "And what is that, exactly?"

He exhaled, frustrated. "I really should not be the one telling you this." His face looked defeated. "I'll try though."

"Yes." I encouraged.

"You see a seer, see's things." He said stating the obvious."Things that haven't happened and things that have. They look between the past and the future so they could act on the present." We were traveling away from the town; I could see the houses begin to fade from the window, merging into trees. Orange and green trees began to blend together; the interstate became longer curving downward in the end where it disappeared.

"So, I could see things, like the past, and also the future?"

"Yes." He said it like if he was in pain.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "I'm not supposed to tell you this."

"And why not, because someone forbade you to? Didn't you just tell me yesterday not to let myself be pushed around? Well it looks to me like you are doing the same thing." I argued. Dimitri was always criticizing me for being a push over. He was being a hypocrite.

He smiled at me. "Wow, you do listen. Why do you think I told you that? Because I know how it feels like to be treated like dirt, but unlike me you have a choice."

"What do you mean? Why don't you have a choice?" Who doesn't have a choice now a days? We live in the country of the free, right?

"It's complicated." He winced. "But today's not about me. Since no one showed you the ropes, I guess I have to do it. If you want?" He was giving me a choice. But I already knew the answer.

"Yes, I do want you to." I wanted nothing more than to know who I was.

"Good, but I'll warn you, I might not a very good teacher."

"I don't care. I have to take what I can get, right." I joked. It worked he laughed. His eyes crinkled up in the sides, and I saw light dimple's appear on his cheeks.

I went back to business before I got too caught up on his dimpling cheeks. "So, does it only come in my dreams, these visions."

The car jerked sideways, scaring me a little before Dimitri righted it. "What?" He asked. "Oh man we got our work really cut out for us." His eyes became stressed. "You mean you're still not able to get your visions at will."

"At will? I can do that?"

"Yes you can." He looked frustrated again. "When you're sleeping you're more in tune with the natural order of your body, but you've got to learn how to harness that while you are awake. That way you're open to your visions. You don't know how much you need this."

"No, I don't know, why don't you tell me, everything."

He looked desperate before a determination overtook his features. "Ok, I'll try. But I don't know everything. I could only tell you the parts I know. What you really need is your book. We've got to find it, it could be anywhere."

"Book, Seer, Book." I mumbled. "Do you know the name of the book?"

"Well, every seer has a unique book; it comes to them in a form that is best for the seer. The name could be anything; it's made for the seer to recognize it." He looked pensive.

"But I don't know anything about this book. If it comes in a form I would recognize, then wouldn't the name have to be something obvious? Otherwise how would I know what it is?"

His eyes brightened, for the first time he looked hopeful. "You're right it would have to be something obvious."

I knew then which book I needed.

"I need The Seer's Handbook."


	7. Chapter 7 Shadows

**Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. I had a 6 week summer school course plus work which took up the majority of my time. I know a lot of you are wondering how Dimitri fits into this story. And what he is. Well this chapter will shed a little light on that. But just a little bit, not too ****much yet. I know someone asked if the seer's handbook is a real book. I just made it up, but I google searched it and apparently it is a real book. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter, tell me what you think and I'll try to respond back to your questions. Tell me your theories about this story and the demons, I like reading about them.**

Dimitri looked at me in shock. I would too if someone who was supposed to know nothing knew the most important thing.

"You've seen the book. No wait, scratch that, you had the book with you and you didn't think to grab it."

"It's not my book, it's Christians. He has it. I saw it in one of his shelves." Well I only took a very brief glance at the book.

"So you've read it." He asked hopefully. My face fell, "You haven't read it have you?"

"No. I only saw it briefly. I think Christian's keeping it from me. I only saw it by chance." I confessed.

"Wow, great friend you have there." He bit out. I glared at him. I didn't like the back hand comment he threw towards Christian.

"He's the best actually. And he has his reasons. That's why he doesn't show it to me." I defended. Christian was acting secretive and mysterious, but he was still my best friend. I wasn't going to let anyone insult him.

"Really and what would that reason be?"

"I, umm, he." Dimitri had a victorious look in his eyes when he saw I couldn't answer. I felt my ears burn hot; I hated to loose.

"He didn't tell you did he." He smirked.

"Well, no." I sagged. I hated how Dimitri looked so self-assured. I wanted to club him over the head with my back pack. "Fine, I'll get the book." I bit out.

"How?"

I was actually planning on sneaking in through Christian's window in the middle of the night, but suddenly admitting that to Dimitri didn't seem like a good idea.

"I'm going to ask him for it." I lied.

"You're lying."

"What?" How did he know?

"You're lying." He repeated. "An innocent girl like you can't lie properly; you always get this guilty look in your eyes when you do it."

"I've been told I'm a good liar. I can fool almost anyone."

"Almost being the optimal word. Anyways, how are you really going to get the book?"

"I was going to sneak into his room." I mumbled.

"Sneak into his room?" He asked surprised. "Have you no respect? No decency what so over…. I like it. I think I'll join you."

"Excuse me, I don't need you to come with me, I could do it myself." I huffed. Who did he think he was; my bodyguard.

"I wasn't asking. I was telling you that I am coming with you." His eyes were hard; his grip around the wheel tightened. He wasn't going to let me say no. I looked out the window hoping to defuse my anger with some nature.

"Why do you even want to come, anyway?"He pulled the car off of the interstate and into the gravel path beside it. He turned off the engine and twisted in his seat to face me directly. There were trees all around the interstate, all gold leaves and browning. The forest was thick on both sides of it. It looked like we were in the middle of a forest wonderland. I wouldn't be surprised if Bambi showed up.

"Why? Do you really have to ask me that?"

I looked at him as if to say, yeah.

"Fine, I'm going because I am not about to let you go out, alone, especially at night." He looked angry. His nostrils were flared, and his handsome face looked a little scary.

"How do you know I'm going at night?"

"What time does anyone go when they're sneaking into someone's house? At night of course, no one sneaks in in broad daylight. That would be stupid."

"It still doesn't mean that you have to come. The neighborhood I live in is calm. Nothing's going to happen to me if I simply walk a couple of blocks, in the dark."

"Walk? Now I'm really going." He reached up and tangled his fingers through his thick hair. At one point looking like he was tugging at it in frustration. "How could you even think about going alone, at night, and to make everything worse, walking. Didn't I just tell you the danger you are in. You think I am going to let you out of my sight."

"I don't need your protection. Plus you haven't even told me anything about this. You just warn me, but what is it that is apparently trying to get me?" I asked between clenched teeth.

"Do you really want me to say it?" His voice had gotten scary low. His eyes challenging.

"Yes?" I said it like a question, suddenly unsure.

"Demon." The simple word held so much meaning to me. I had studied demons the past five years of my life; though mostly I looked through the information as a disbeliever. Now suddenly the word demon was something to be taken seriously? It was no longer a word in a book. It was a word chosen to describe where my life was heading; into the grasps of a demon.

"Demon. You mean like actual horns popping out, straight out of hell demon."

His face cracked a smile finding my comment amusing. "Well not exactly a horn and tail. There not that obvious; they'll just be covered in flames from head to toe." My eyes popped out in shock. "Or maybe they'll just look like average normal people, blending into our society." He finished.

"Average normal people?" I asked.

He nodded.

"You are telling me a demon—and I really can't believe I'm using this word in a serious context—can sneak up on me at any time without me knowing."

"Exactly." He replied, his voice sounded bored. "Still want to take that walk at night." He teased.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass."

"I knew you would see it my way." He put his hands behind his head and looked ahead, closing his eyes peacefully. "The ladies always see it my way."

I shoved him, hard, with my hand, but it didn't appear to affect him. He didn't even move an inch. He was way stronger than Christian. Christian would have easily been pushed against his car door had I done it to him.

"Was that supposed to do something to me?" His eyes were still closed. "Because you failed."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." The ass hat was pushing his limits.

"You're welcome; anyways we should really get to work." He opened his eyes and stretched his arms out in front of him. The muscles in his arms flexed when he moved them. He grinned when he caught me staring.

I quickly snapped my head away from him, embarrassed at having been caught. "So, you're going to teach me this whole seer business." I said to change the subject.

"Yes, but we need to go outside. We have very limited space in here."

"But you said they could be listening—"

"Yes, yes, I know what I said." He interrupted. "But that was only when we were in town. Their ears can only hear so far." Now everything made sense. No wonder he brought me here; it was a good half an hour away from town. We were surrounded by wilderness; the big trees of the forest were ahead of us.

Many people came from all over to camp here. I loved the peace you felt when you were surrounded by nothing but trees. I would come here to hike or to get away from my life whenever I could. The forest was a beautiful place to get lost for a couple of hours and think.

As soon as we got out of his car I reached for his sleeve and pulled him through the trees—away from the interstate. "Come on," I called. The trees were so tall and each had different color leaves they were a clash of yellow, brown, and green all mixed together. The ground was littered in fallen leaves and with each step we took a crunching sound would explode from the bottoms of our feet.

I lead him deeper into the forest; it became darker the further we went. The trees seemed to multiply; they were bunched up together, the branches creating a tangled mossy shield that kept the sunlight from making and appearance.

"You seem to know your way around the forest." He stated. We had been walking in silence for a couple of minutes; both lost in our thoughts.

The cool air whipped lose strands of hair around my face. The breeze was fresh; it smelled like thick nectar and lilac. "Yeah, I come here sometimes to think."

"Alone?" I nodded. "You are definitely tempting fate. What am I going to do with you?" He looked upset.

"Does that bother you?"

"It would bother me more if it didn't go with you. But you are just the type of girl who would be doing things out of the norm. You're different; girls wouldn't normally go through forest by themselves. You seem to enjoy it. That's rare. Where I came from the woman would never go into the forest. They would stay at home while their husbands or fathers went in the forest for wood or to hunt."

"True, but we did leave those customs like two hundred years ago. Unless you were raised in some backwards town."

"Actually my town just discovered that the Earth is round, not flat, can you believe that."

"Shocking," I replied dryly.

"Anyways we should stop here; if we go any further we might fall of the end of the Earth." He said, stopping me in the middle of the uneven dirt trail. We had come to some sort of clearing. The large moss covered trees created a big looming shadow over us. The dirt had no other plants growing out of it; most likely the lack of sunshine didn't allow any other plants to grow here.

Dimitri perched himself on a boulder—probably spotting it before we stopped—and looked towards me, completely relaxed. He no longer had the pains of the world written on his face; like the forest air cleared them out of his face. He looked younger, more carefree.

"Are you ready?" He asked me, his tone mocking but there was a seriousness to his question.

"Yes." I breathed out. There was nothing else in the world I would want to hear. Only this.

His eyes cut me like glass. There was so much in them, so much pain lashed out in that one look. "You asked for it." He laughed cruelly.

"I already told you that a demons after you. But do you know why?" I shook my head.

"It's because of what you see. Demons always have something up there sleeve. A plan, but seers are two steps ahead of them. They know where a demons going to be before the demon himself knows. They could easily set up a trap and the demon will walk right into it without even knowing. There is nothing a demon is more afraid of than a seer. That's why they want to wipe them all out. No seer's equals no problems for demons."

"How do you know so much about demons? Are you a demon hunter?" I asked.

"Demon Hunter." He said trying the word out. "I guess you could say that I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"I've killed demons, so I guess I am qualified to be called a demon hunter."

So that's what he was. He was always so aloof and mysterious; able to move quickly and sneak up on people. Dimitri was a hunter, it made sense.

He took a deep breath. His voice was more solemn when he continued. "Unfortunately you don't know how to be a seer yet. You're easy pick-ins for demons. They'll want to finish you before you get the strength to finish them."

"That alone should have you running." He looked at me cautiously. "But you are not going to run are you?" I shook my head. "I didn't think so. You should be." He warned.

"Why should I?"

"Because demons aren't to be taken lightly. They trick you, their filled with deception. It's easy to fall into one of their traps. Like going into the witches castle, they do not need to come after you, they make you come to them."

"And why would I go into the witches castle?" I challenged. If demons weren't going to take me by force I was relatively certain that I wouldn't go bouncing into their trap.

He looked at me like if I was so innocent; like a child. "You honestly have no idea what you're up against, none. Someone doesn't go into the witches castle knowing it's the witches castle. They go in thinking it's some freaking wonderland. Point being is that when you go in, you won't know it's a freaking trap, you'll never see it coming. You'll believe whatever they want you to believe until it's too late."

I shivered a little. He noticed."Finally, you are showing some self-awareness. Do you finally see the big picture, anything could be a trap."

"How?" I croaked out.

"Because you'll never suspect who they are. They won't let you suspect. By the time you figure it out it's too late. Which is why you can't be wandering around, alone. You are practically calling them to you."

"Well, it's never happened before." I argued though I already knew I was going to lose. His face was set in fury, talking about these demons ignited him. I could tell there was something in his fury, a pain he was trying to mask with anger. They had done something to him, something horrible. I could see it all over his face.

"What did they do to you?" I asked. He gave me a questioning look.

"These demons, what did they do to you? They hurt you deeply didn't they?"

He looked shocked, his eyes startled that I had figured it out. I could tell that he was a person who suffered in silence; he wasn't one to talk to people about his pains.

"Why do you ask me that?"

"Because I could see it on your face; your pain. You hide it behind your attitude but I could see it, it's so clear to me now. I see you now, really see you."

"You don't know anything." The pain in his voice ate at my heart. Dimitri was kind of a jerk, but he was also funny and kind. He didn't deserve whatever they did to him.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries. You obviously don't want to talk about it. Sorry I brought it up." He wasn't ready to talk about it, I could see that. But maybe someday he would.

He collected himself before he dived again into the "lesson". I knew he wasn't going to acknowledge what I just figured out. I expected it. Dimitri wasn't one to admit weakness.

"So demons," he said lamely. "As I said before, they're going to look like normal people. They might be your… neighbors." I could tell he was having a hard time getting it out. His face had that pained look to it again. "They can even be… your schoolmates, a teacher, a….a friend." He was breathing hard. He hunched down on the boulder to collect his breath. His hand against his chest seemed to be pushing down on his heart.

I didn't know what was going on. I rushed to help him but as soon as I got near him he collected himself. His breathing was normal, he gave me a reassuring smile.

"Dimitri…"

"It's nothing." His tone was final. I really hoped I didn't cause this discomfort with the question.

"Fine." I huffed. "So why do demons come here anyways. Isn't hell good enough for them?"

"Isn't it obvious? Nobody likes hell. Not even demons. What demons want is to take over this world so that they won't have to be stuck in hell for eternity. They like this world because they're free to do whatever they want without the hell fire constantly burning their skin off. And in order to take over this world they need to fight for it. They need a war. And they need people on their side. So that's what they do. They come to get followers. They don't get them forcibly; they convince them to join, promising the world to them. And once you become a follower its hard to back out. They need followers so when the final fight comes they'll have people on their sides. Your job is to postpone the war as long as possible. Give people a chance of real life.

"And how exactly do I stop the demons if I don't even know how to be a proper seer?" I asked. He gave me a serious look and something clicked.

"The book! That's why you wanted me to find it"

"Well that was one of the reasons, not entirely all of it, but it would make teaching you easier."

"What about the book I have? Wouldn't that work?" I adjusted the weight of my backpack, only now realizing what I had inside.

"Not quite as much as you would think. It only has a very scanty section of what you need, but I guess we could give it a try. It's better than nothing."

"Well, I wouldn't say it's nothing. There were some things in there that I didn't quite get." And by things I meant the ritual. I wonder what Dimitri thought of them.

I flipped open the book and took him to the page that has been haunting me these past two days. "I need help on this." I asked pointing to the scripture about the demon and the shadow. But most importantly I pointed out the ritual.

He winced when he read it. "I guess these books do have something useful in them." He laughed uncomfortably. "That's a summoning ritual." I nodded. "And I know you know what a demon is but do you know about his shadow?"

No I didn't know anything about a shadow. Except maybe for the one in my dream. "No." I told him.

He scratched the back of his neck trying to come up with the words. "Well a shadow is like a demons puppet. They were once human but they cut a deal with a demon and sold their soul to them. Now whenever a demon wants them to do something all they have to do is pull a string and they obey."

"So demons are the puppeteers. And the shadows have no choice; they have to obey to their commands?" I asked.

"Yes."

"How sad, to not even have control of your own life. Who would sell their soul for that?" I said to know one in particular.

"Desperate men." He answered. "Men who have starving families; men who would do anything to keep them alive so they strike a deal with a demon. A life time supply of food and shelter for their soul." He seemed to be somewhere else; his eyes were glassy. I knew that behind them he was reliving this. Dimitri might not have told me what caused his pain, but I was beginning to think it was about his family. He spoke with longing when he mentioned families. He missed them.

"You miss them, don't you? Your family." His face became stone again, I couldn't read it. It was like he went back to being the old Dimitri from before. I think I really put my foot into it this time.

"We should probably stop our lesson for today." He answered harshly. "We could pick this up again tomorrow." I exhaled in relief. Tomorrow. He was still going to teach me more. I didn't realize how worried I was that he was going to stop teaching me till he said those words.

Dimitri led the way back, this time. We didn't talk, it didn't look like he wanted to make conversation; he was still stone faced.

It wasn't until his car came into view when I stopped him. "Dimitri, are you mad at me?"

He whipped his face towards me, "what, no why would you think that?" He looked confused and…. sincere?

"Because you haven't talked to me since we started walking. And because you look mad." His face softened and his eyes took on a regretful tint.

"I am sorry for making you think that." He apologized. "I wasn't mad at you. I was mad at myself for overreacting back there. I was afraid about what you said; about what you figured out. I am sorry for taking that out on you." He was letting me inside, briefly. He was confirming what I had figured out; the demons had harmed him deeply. I wonder if one day he'll tell me exactly what they did. But for now, I knew that was the only thing I was going to get.

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize. I get it; you don't feel comfortable enough to tell me something so private." I told him.

"It's not that—"

"Stop, Dimitri, I would do the same thing. If I had something as serious as you seem to have under your belt. I wouldn't be telling you either. I would hide it too, so really it was unfair of me to ask. Maybe you'll tell me one day, okay."

"Sure, when you're safe I'll tell you." I didn't get his comment, but I had no time to ask. He was looking at me so intensely, like if keeping me safe was the most important thing in the world. I couldn't help but feel consumed by his look. I felt a couple of butterflies flutter in my stomach, which was stupid. Sure Dimitri had flirted with me, but he seemed to have a flirty personality. He probably does this on a daily basis with the girls he talks to.

"We should… go." I barely got out. I was sure he could see the hot flush on my face. His smirk proved it. The sensitive Dimitri seemed to disappear; he was back to his cocky self.

"Sure, Rose, you do seem like you're getting a bit hot. I am sure the air conditioner will clear that red flush. Or maybe being in that enclosed car with me will bring it back." He winked. My cheeks burned brighter than ever, damn him.

"If you think I am flushing because of you, you're wrong." I pointed at him with my pointer finger. "You are just an arrogant bastard who thinks because a girl's red in the cheeks it has to be about him. Well it's not, my cheeks always get this way."

"Well you're feisty aren't you? But you are wrong about two things. First, I am not an arrogant bastard, and second," he ticked off with his fingers and took a step closer to me, "your cheeks just got redder the second I got closer." My breath hitched up, he was close, too close to me. Our bodies were almost touching. My heart beat sped up, and then he started to lean down. He was going to kiss me, I thought. My eyes fluttered close and I tensed in anticipation. I felt his breath right against my mouth, it was minty like peppermint.

"So I'll do you a favor." Dimitri whispered, his lips barely brushing mine when he spoke. "I'll save you from kissing an arrogant bastard." And just as quickly his heat was gone. I opened my eyes and saw him walking towards his car—away from me.

That arrogant bastard. "Are you coming?" He called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I grumbled.

The car ride back to town was a bit awkward. I was still embarrassed over having been made a fool. Now he probably thinks I wanted to kiss him. Which I kind of did but not because I like him? It was more because I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a boy. At least that's what I told myself.

"Why are you so quiet?" He asked. We were just starting to arrive in the outskirts of town. The houses were coming into view; the trees thinning.

I looked out the window, refusing to look at him. "Just thinking," I answered.

"Really, it wouldn't happen to be about me would it?" I snorted. Of course he would think that, but if I was being honest it was.

"Why do you think everything's about you?" I told him.

His eyes lit up. "So that's what all this silence is about, because I didn't kiss you."

"No," I said a little too quickly. He didn't look convinced.

"Hell, if that's the problem I'll pull over and give you a smooch right now."

"I don't want you to kiss me. As a matter of fact you did me a favor because you're right, I definitely do not want to kiss an egotistical, thinks he's better than everyone, bastard like you." I was so mad, by all accords I should be breathing fire.

He looked at me quizzically. "You should get pissed off more often. It makes you look…." He thought about it for a second. "Pretty good," he finished.

"As opposed to when I am not mad and look awful."I bit back. Really what else should I expect, he's Dimitri. He has about a hundred hot chicks falling over him each day. Girls that look like supermodels when compared next to me.

"That's not what I meant." He said; voice serious. "You let them get to you; all the girls from school with their so called beauty. But they're not. They have all that crap on their face that is supposed to make them look pretty but they look fake. They wear these short little minis to call guys attention but all I see is a pathetic sap that tries too hard." He finally turned his head in my direction. "Don't you see, you're real. You are not fake; you don't try to look pretty. You look like yourself and that makes you beautiful."

My breath sped up. Dimitri thinks I'm beautiful? I didn't know what to say, it was the first time anyone called me beautiful. What do you answer to that, thank you? It seemed kind of stupid to say that though.

"You're… beautiful too." Idiot. It would have been better if I stuck with the thank you.

"Yeah; word of advice. Don't call a man beautiful. Say ravishingly sexy or handsome, it sounds better." He looked at me expectantly. "Well go on say it." He wants me to say it, now.

"Why? And better yet, who do you think you are to boss me around." He gave me a mischievous smile as he turned the corner. With a shock I realized that we were on my street. How did we get here so fast?

"Isn't that your house?" He pointed to the little yellow two story house that was indeed mine and parked in front of my driveway. "Why don't I go in there and have a lovely chat with your parents. I could tell them all about our undying love, maybe have them invite me for dinner—"

"Stop!" I covered his mouth with my hand; I was surprised I actually did it. Dimitri was bringing out a whole new side of me. "Fine, you're ravishingly sexy, handsome, yummy, delicious, and all of the above. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." He mumbled from underneath my hand.

"Good." I took my hand away from his mouth and got out of the car. It was three o clock. Mia would be coming home soon. I didn't want her to catch me with Dimitri.

As I turned to walk away I heard his window slide down. "Rose." He called. I turned around and caught the smug look on his face. "So you think I am delicious."

"Uhh, just get out of here." Please before I die of mortification.

"Will do RoRo." He said as he drove away. I nearly tripped. How the hell did he hear about that nickname?

"Don't call me RoRo!" I yelled. I think I heard him laugh but that might have been a trick of the wind.

You're going to be the death of me Dimitri, I thought, before I turned around and went inside.

"Well you're early." My mother said as I came inside. "And where's Mia, she usually comes in before you do."

"She's…coming, soon." _I hope._ "She got held up with her friends, you know how they always talk after school."

"Then how did you get here." She asked suspiciously before her face lit up with recognition. "Oh, I see. You must have had a very nice ride home with that boy. What was his name?"

There was no use denying it, "Dimitri, his name is Dimitri."

"Dimitri, well that's a nice name." She looked ready to burst. "Sweetie tell me the truth, is Dimitri your boyfriend?"

"Uhh, no. Not really, he was just being nice, you know. Because I was waiting for a long time and Mia wasn't hurrying up so he asked if I wanted a ride. Really it was just a matter of kindness." Please don't figure out that I am lying. I don't know how my mother would react if she knew that I ditched.

"Really, a boy gives you a ride home out of the kindness of his heart. Sounds more like this boy has a crush on you. If I were you I would go right ahead, nose dive in. I didn't get much of a look but from what little I saw he looked like a handsome young man. You should go for it sweetie, if you want I could even call his parents and arrange a date—"

"No!" Please, anything but that. Nothing would be more embarrassing than your mom setting you up on a date.

"Well, you've got to do something." She huffed exasperated. "There's not a big line out there for you." So that's what she was getting at, because this might be my only shot for a boyfriend, because there's no way in hell a boy would look at me. My mom knows that. All these years she's tried to encourage me, telling me that there were plenty of boys out there who'll want me. But seeing the desperation in her face now, makes it clear that she herself didn't believe all the crap she was feeding me. She knew that there was something wrong with me. I repelled the human race away from me. She probably thought it was a miracle that finally a boy—that wasn't Christian—was able to be close to me. Someone who apparently liked me.

Something snapped inside me. I wanted to tell my mom everything, all that I had bottle up inside me. She knew more about me than she let on. I always thought she was deluding herself into thinking I was normal. But now I know she only did that to make me feel better. Because the truth is that she was right, no man would ever look my way. The only guy in the world who had made flirty comments and acted like he sort of liked me was Dimitri and he…he…

My voice was so hoarse when I spoke I hardly recognize it. "Mom, Dimitri doesn't like me. He didn't even want to kiss me today. He left me with my lips puckered up like a fool." And then everything I felt started spilling out. "I bet no one ever left Mia with her lips puckered. You don't know how horrible I felt knowing that I was tricked into believing he would want to kiss me. His breath was all over me, it smelled so good. What if mine smelt bad? How could I believe that Dimitri would want to kiss me when he has an army of woman behind him? Women who are made of plastic, and then he tried to make me feel better by saying I was beautiful but I know that if it was any of those plastics, he would of kissed them. But not me, never me. I can't believe I almost let him have my first kiss." I was a blubbering fool, my words so incoherent because I was spitting them out so fast.

It was the first time in years I had let my insecurities out and to make it worse it was in front of my mother. Her sympathetic eyes snapped me out of my slumber. What the hell was I doing? Going crazy for some guy that doesn't deserve it. I swore to myself that I would never be one of those girls who went crazy or cried for a man. And I intended to keep my promise. I quickly collected myself and sucked in a deep breath. Why was I worrying anyways, because Dimitri didn't want to kiss me, or because he called me beautiful? No one had ever called me beautiful before.

I choked down whatever caused my initial tirade. I transformed from the blubbering mess back to Rose; and Rose defiantly didn't worry about something this stupid.

"Sweetie are you okay." My mother patted me on the back before she began to rub soothing circles. Why was everyone doing that?

"I'm fine mom. I don't even know where all that came from. It was stupid and it won't happen again." I promised.

"Sweet heart, this wasn't a sign of weakness. You can't just bottle everything inside or else it'll all explode out. I don't think this was all just about the kiss, I think only part of it was that. You build up a lot of things inside you and it was let out" She lifted my chin up and looked at me in a way that only moms do. It's a look that says I love you but I'm the boss so do as I say. "If you ever need to talk about something feel free to come to me. You can even cry on my shoulder if you have to." She smiled sympathetically.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I had a feeling I might actually take her up on her offer. This outburst was scary and I felt like I still had a lot more bottled up in me that could be let out on any moment of frustration. I needed to talk to someone, anyone, and right now the two people in the world I most trusted—Christian and Dimitri—are people I didn't feel like talking to at the moment.

"Mom." I told her seriously. I was about to tell her the gist of everything that's been going on with me. Not the whole truth because she might stick me into a mental hospital and label me mentally disturbed."Have you ever had dreams, so frightfully real, that you start to believe that it might actually be happening?" I asked her.

"Oh sweetie, is this what it's all about. Bad dreams." She gave a soft laugh and that's how I know she doesn't get it. She'll never get what I am talking about. Dreams are dreams, they aren't reality, but she hasn't felt what I felt so she'll never get it. She'll never get me.

"Forget it, you're right, it's just bad dreams. I wasn't able to sleep well last night because of it and the sleepiness sort of got to me. I think that's what caused my outburst. I made a small thing burst into a large one because I was stressed from lack of sleep." My lie came more smoothly than ever. I was getting better at it.

"See I told you, if you talk it out you'll find the problem." She smiled, dimpling the same way Mia does. Her silky hair whipped around us as she reached out to hug me. Her warmth was comforting but in no way did it help.

The creaking of the door alerted us that someone came in. We quickly separate and were met by Mia's curious eyes. I knew that it was weird for her to find us hugging. I am not one to hug people.

"What's going on here?" Mia looked back and forth between mom and I. Her eyes were suspicious.

"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to hug my dear daughter, it's been too long." My mother waved off casually. She was keeping our little talk a secret. I was kind of worried that she was going to go blab about it. Sometimes that mouth of hers starts telling other peoples secrets.

Mia still looked suspicious. "Well I need to talk to Rose, privately." She said to no one in particular. "I'll just go to my room. Rose." Mia turned towards me. "Come with me to my room so we could talk." That's weird. Mia never wants to just talk with me. We live to ignore each other.

She walked up the stairs and I followed behind her. I was kind of hungry—I hadn't eaten lunch—and I was really hoping to take a trip to the kitchen soon.

Mia's room was a fluffy pink wonder land. Her bed had a light pink comforter layered with millions of pillows varying in darker shades of pink. She made a big fit when she was young stomping her feet and screaming to the top of her lungs till my father conceded her wish and put pink carpeting and painted her room bubble gum pink. It was too pink, every time I enter this room I feel like I was trapped inside a pink cotton candy.

"Ok, what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked.

Mia paced around her room before she answered. "Are you and Dimitri together?"

"No." I replied quickly.

She looked at the pink nail polish of her fingernails—pretending she didn't care—but I saw a muscle in her jaw twitch. "You two ditched today didn't you." She finally looked up at me but there was something different in her eyes. They didn't look reproachful, it was more like resignation. "You don't have to answer that, I know you did."

"And you're not mad?"

"No. He seems more your type anyway. I mean Dimitri's cute, real cute, but he's kind of like you. Speaks his mind, doesn't care what he looks like but he pulls it off. And he doesn't care about hanging out with us cool people. I should have seen it before. Dimitri's not my type of guy. Even if I did manage to snag him, we would have nothing in common." She smiled timidly. "Plus, he has a thing for my little sister."

"What…no Dimitri doesn't like me." I said quickly. "He has a hoard of women after him. He can choose whoever he wants."

"And he chose you." Mia finished. "Now, I am going to tell you something I've never said before." She took a deep breath; I could tell what she was about to say was hard for her. "You're actually really pretty, did you know that. And, even though it pains me to admit it, you have a rocking body. I wish I had your curves." She frowned when she looked down at her own body. "Dimitri would be a fool not to like you. Fortunately he isn't a fool because he does like you. As for the hoard of women, I can guarantee you he's never looked at them once. His eyes are only for you."

This was the first time Mia had complemented me on anything. It made me feel like I had the old Mia back, the one from when we were kids. She used to be my best friend, and I really missed her.

"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say, but that felt like enough. She made me feel better. Besides she gave me the most important thing back, my friend.

"Just don't get all sappy with me. And don't tell anyone I said those complements, got that." She warned halfheartedly. I could tell a change had happened within her. The way she looked at me was different. She was looking at me like a sister instead of the person she had to live with. It reminded me of the way Natalie looked at me the last day I saw her. She hadn't talked to me since the sixth grade but that day she came right to me. She looked at me the same way she did when we were eleven, like a friend. The words she whispered to me that day are ones I would never forget. She trusted me with a secret, a secret she told no one else but me.

"Mia," I needed to think fast, "can I borrow the car keys." I had been putting it off for too long. I needed to find that dingy old room quickly. I needed to find it for Natalie.

"Why?" Mia never likes it when I use our car. She believed that as the oldest it should be hers not us.

"I need to check something out. It's for a school project." I lied quickly. I was really getting into the habit of lying.

"School, huh. What class?" She didn't believe me, it was clear on her dolled up face; she knew I was spewing bullshit.

"For environmental science." I didn't know why I kept lying; I wasn't convincing her. Maybe I wasn't as good at lying as I thought.

"Really then, mind if I go with you and "help out" with your project." She crossed her arms and waited for me to answer. A victorious look crossed her face when she thought I was going to fess up. But suddenly, having her next to me while I searched in the cemetery didn't seem like a bad idea. The truth was I was kind of freaked out about going in the cemetery, alone.

"Sure," I gave her my toothy smile, "I would love for you to come help me." Her mouth opened in shock. She was really betting on me backing out. Her face looked comical, her jaw was nearly to the floor and her eyes were bug eyed and twitching. Mia wasn't one to "help out". She was made to look cute and blow air kisses.

"Wh…where are we going?" She stuttered out, horrified at having weaseled herself into doing work.

I watched carefully her expression before I let loose the big one. "Oh where just going to go take a nice quiet trip to the cemetery." I had to cover my ears from the high pitch squeal she let out.


	8. Chapter 8 The cemetery

**Hey so I said I was going to answer your theories, if possible. Someone wanted to know if Christian is evil or turns evil, I can't reveal much about it, but just stay in tune and you will find out soon, like really soon. Thanks for those who reviewed with positive support for my story, that really made my day. A lot of you want to know when there fist kiss will be. Hmm who's to say that they will even have a kiss? I might go evil on you and make them not kiss lol. Or maybe they will smooch a big wet one. Who's to say. Shower the love this way and I'll make them kiss. Lol I'm just joking, you don't need to if you don't want to. But please review. I love hearing from you. Even if what your going to say is that my story sucks, I don't care, I'll take it ;) **

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"So why are we going to the cemetery." She asked for the hundredth time. We were in the car—she was driving of course—and I had to repeat again that it was because I wanted to test the soil for environmental needs. I didn't know if people actually did that but Mia pretty much bought it.

The cemetery was covered in knee high grass and scattered trees. Leaves littered the ground, some tangled so deep in the grassy vines they became a unit. It was rather sad what they let this place become. The dead underneath were long forgotten in this rotting cemetery.

They built a new cemetery in the other side of town. They said this one was so full and old they needed a better place to rest the dead, but really what they wanted was a better place to hold funerals. They didn't want the visitors who were sending off their deceased to see this old cemetery.

The last person to get buried here was a man named Vladamir about forty years ago. His only son moved away from this town over twenty years ago. No one seen him since, not even to visit his father's grave.

I didn't like that, the feeling of all the forgotten souls underneath my feet. It made me feel like they were calling out to me, begging me to remember.

Mia parked the car in the shabby little parking lot before we set off. There were no iron fences surrounding it, or any other method stopping someone from coming in. It was just a plot of graves in the open landscape.

I couldn't see the little room from where I stood—I still wasn't exactly in, more like bordering around the edges—I realized I would have to go in.

"Come on." I called to Mia. She looked hesitant to go in. Her face was scrunched up and her eyes were begging me to let her off the hook. In any other situation I would have, but right now I didn't want to go in by myself.

"Don't be a chicken just go in; it's not a big deal. Wait; don't tell me you're afraid of a little cemetery." I taunted. Sometimes the only way to make Mia do something was to taunt her. That way her pride would get in the way of her fear.

"Of course not." She sniffed. "It's just that my heels are going to get dirty."

I looked down and saw her golden four inch heels that combined with the black and gold dress she was wearing. Who wears that to school anyways?

"Excuses." I told her, still trying to play up her pride. "You can just tell me you're scared; I won't tell anyone."

"I am not scared! Fine let's go in then sister." She took the lead and I followed behind her, secretly pleased that my plan worked.

The tall grass kept tickling our legs like phantom hands the further we went in. The skin there started to get red and blotchy from the weeds and from my constant scratching.

I played up the role of the project by getting soil and collecting it in a little plastic bag. All the while I kept my eyes open for the room. The cemetery was a big piece of land ranging to about two acres. But what made it so difficult to spot something were the trees. They were huge and planted carelessly, all over the place. The branches of each tree twined together linking each of the trees to one another.

After a long while of searching I was ready to give up. Maybe Christian was lying about the room being here. He specifically told me he didn't want me to come. If he didn't want me to come he probably gave me the wrong address to go to. It made sense, why would Christian give me the right address. I was going to kill him.

I turned around to tell Mia that we were leaving when I caught her looking at something. She was looking at a scuttle of trees all clumped together, but behind that there was something peaking from between the small cracks they left between each other. What was that? It looked like a wall.

"Where are you going?" Mia asked. I hadn't realized I was walking towards it till Mia said it. But by then I was already half way to the trees. "Wait up." I heard her footsteps hurry up behind me.

I already knew what it was before I got there. I squeezed myself between the trees and saw a little room with peeling paint and boarded up windows. The color was probably once white but throughout the years it had yellowed. The door was scratched up like in my dream. The graffiti littered the ancient door that was barely hanging on to the hinges.

"We are not going in there are we?" Mia asked from behind me. "That place looks awful and bums probably piss in there." Her nose wrinkled up. "I bet it smells like piss and feces in there."

"Only one way to find out." I told her, and walked inside, ignoring her protest.

I couldn't believe what I found was almost unreal. Every inch of the room was wiped clean. There was no trace of the dirt; no hot wax remained on the floor. Even the brown armoire was gleaming as if recently polished. Someone had cleaned this room spotless.

My suspicion rose. They were covering their tracks, leaving no evidence behind. This room wouldn't be clean; it hasn't been used in years. There would have to be grime and dust coating the floors. The walls would have to have had at least a couple of spider webs. But there was nothing. No evidence to incriminate a person. No splattered blood, not even a fingerprint.

I was sure this was the room where Natalie spent her last moments alive. It looked different without the dust, the candle light, and the shadow, but it was this one. I was sure of it.

I still looked around the room, hoping I would find something, anything. But it was useless. This person was good.

Mia followed me throughout the small room like a shadow. She was hesitant; I could tell she didn't like being in here. Maybe she felt, to some extent, the horrible atrocity that had been committed here like I did. I would find her gaze wondering over the walls, the armoire, but most importantly the center of the room.

Footsteps broke my concentration, I was currently examining the wall I had seen the shadow lean against on in my dream. The footsteps were getting louder, they were heavy, not the light footsteps you would hear a girl make. These were strictly male.

The footsteps stopped right in front of the door, and when it burst open I expected to see an angry adult screaming at us for trespassing, even Christian and Dimitri crossed my mind. Who I didn't expect was Eddie

Eddie was standing in the entrance of the room. His wisps of dirty blond hair were sticking to his forehead and his flat brown eyes were staring at us expectantly.

His eyes settled on mine. I noticed that there was something in his pug face that didn't sit well with me. It was almost like he was expecting us there.

The silence stretched on until finally, Mia, broke it. "What are you doing here you little weasel?" He looked at her with a creepy grin before returning his gaze to me. I noticed that Eddie was tall, clearing a good six feet, and had a slightly stocky build.

"Shouldn't I be asking you ladies the same question. Or is it normal for you two to visit a cemetery."

"Absolutely not, we don't hang around here, that's reserved for creeps like you." Mia said giving him a haughty look before she grabbed my hand. "Come on Rose let's go before more creeps come out."

She led the way out, dragging me with her, but Eddie was blocking the door. He leaned casually against the door frame as if he didn't notice that he was blocking us. "Move." Mia growled.

"Are you sure you want that? I do remember you wanting to be right against me last night. Your lips were practically glued to mine." Mia's face paled. "So you do remember." He grinned.

No, that was impossible, Mia kissing Eddie? That would never happen. But one look at Mia's face confirmed it.

His creepy gaze turned towards me. "Mia told me some interesting news yesterday. Apparently you and Dimitri got together for a little chat. Word of advice," he moved closer to me and whispered against my cheek, "don't go near him." His breath brushed against my face. I resisted the urge to scrub my face clean of his smell.

Mia stood frozen as Eddie turned away and left. I waited till I couldn't see his figure walking away before I led Mia out of the room.

Mia was quiet the whole way back. She seemed out of it and didn't even protest when I drove the car.

I knew she didn't want me to mention the kiss; she was emanating the aurora of hostility. I couldn't fathom the thought; what would lead Mia to kiss Eddie. And when did she even have the time to do it. It had to be after my date with Dimitri, after Mia saw me get out of his car. She must have snuck out, upset. And Mia does some pretty stupid things when she's upset; Eddie being, by far, the worst.

What I couldn't get into my head was why Eddie was there to begin with. Eddie who was just Eddie, the kid who had sat behind me in first period for half a year. Why would he be here? And more importantly why did I get such a bad vibe from him. He always seemed perfectly harmless in school. And what was with that comment about Dimitri? I mean sure they sat together for like two weeks, but they never talked. They would ignore each other completely. Why did Eddie suddenly think he was an expert on Dimitri?

This trip was supposed to answer my questions, not add new ones, I thought grudgingly.

"Girls, you're home." My mother said as she set the dinner plates on the table. She had piled them up with chicken, mash potatoes and vegetables. My mouth watered at the sight; the only thing I ate today was a banana. I was suddenly ravenous for food.

"So," My mother clamped her hands together, a forced smile on her face. "You two went out together. Did some sister bonding time, that's great." She said, unenthusiastically. "It's just that, even though I love that you two are going places together, right now you just can't do that. You heard what was on the news." Her eyes became concerned, they slightly watered. "I don't want what happened to that poor girl to happen to you. If you want to do things together do them here at home, not outside, ok. Can you two promise me that?"

"Yes mom." We said simultaneously.

"Good, now go eat. I made a lot of food." I didn't waste time digging in. I hardly noticed when my dad joined us, the only coherent thought going through my head was dang this chicken is good.

I had eaten every bit of food off my plate, wiped it clean, when I noticed that Mia had hardly touched hers. She was just pushing it around with her fork. I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Sweetie, why aren't you eating your food?" Mom's stern voice penetrated our silence.

"I am not very hungry. Can I just go to my room?" I had to admit, Mia didn't look so well. Her face was still pale, and there was a look in her eyes that hinted towards desperation.

"Sure, honey. Do you want me to bring you some Tylenol or Advil—"

"No, I'm fine, just having that time of the month." Mia shrugged. She was lying.

"Woah." My dad put his arms up in a please stop jester. "I know I live in a house full of girls, but can we refrain from talking about that thing till after I am done eating. I don't want to get the mental image of a bloody pad while I have food in front of me."

My mother's nose wrinkled up in disgust. "Why would that pop up in your head?" She asked.

"Because you girls have left a good share of those in the bathroom and I've had the misfortune of seeing them." He confessed, horrified.

"They're not that bad. It's natural."

They continued to banter all throughout dinner. Mia slipped to her bedroom but they were too caught up to notice. They didn't even notice when I left soon after. Their discussion had escalated to bloody tampons, and I could only handle so much weirdness in one conversation before it got too weird.

I went upstairs and in and impulse took a left turn in the hallway towards Mia's room. I had given her enough time to recuperate. I needed to know what the real deal was between her and Eddie.

I found Mia lying on her bed, her face buried in one of her many pillows. She looked up when she heard the door shut.

"Took you long enough." She said.

I looked at her in question.

"Don't look at me like that. We both know you were dying to ask me about _Eddie._" She shivered in disgust.

"Why'd you do it? I mean Eddie. It's just not something you would do." It wasn't. Mia went for hot guys, with good abs and a cool status. Eddie was by all means a loser.

"I don't know. I was just really upset so I snuck out. I cruised around town for a while and went to eat at that burger place by Western. He found me there and started talking to me. I told him to go away though." She looked at me desperately, willing me to understand. "I did, I told him to go; to leave me alone, but he wouldn't. He started creeping me out so I decided to leave. But then he just grabbed me and kissed me. And I tried to make him stop, I did." She sounded close to tears now. "And then, I don't know. Suddenly I started to kiss him back. I don't know why I did; it was like my lips had a mind of their own." She took a deep breath. "We started talking after that, I still wanted to leave but I couldn't make myself go. He was comforting me, and I needed it. I told him everything that bothered me and he just listened. I needed someone to listen to me, to my problems, and he provided that. I know I shouldn't have done it, but in that moment it felt like the right thing to do." Her shoulders slumped sadly.

I knew her, I knew Mia. I knew she would never go around and kiss Eddie. Something did happen. Just being next to Eddie made it clear something was wrong with him. I didn't know what it was, but I was going to find out. Mia looked so frightened and scared, she had no idea what was going on. I hated him for making her feel that way.

"Rose." She sobbed. "What do I do? What if Eddie decides to tell the whole world what we did? My social status will be ruined."

"Even if he does tell, no one will believe him. Hell the only reason I believed him was because I took a look at your face. You just have to pretend like if he's a big liar."

She looked up at me teary eyed. "You think that will work." She sniffed.

"Absolutely." I assured her. I spent the rest of the afternoon in Mia's room just talking with her. It was the first time in years we had done that. We both laid back in her bed and I held her in my arms. She told me about her friends, about all the times she had kissed boys. I even, embarrassingly, asked her to describe how a kiss felt like.

To my surprise she didn't laugh at my request. She told me how a kiss was warm and wonderful. How feeling a guy beneath your lips—one you liked—felt like you were both sharing a connection.

"You're so lucky." I told her once she finished describing one of her most passionate of kisses. "You can actually attract guys, and you have so many friends. You don't repel them like I do."

Her head snapped to me. "I am not lucky. You don't know how good you have it. You think having lots of friends is great." Her eyes were ablaze. "Well too bad all those friends would ditch me in a second if my social status dropped. I don't have any real friends, their all fakes. You don't know how lucky you are that you have Christian. I've seen the way you two are together. I've seen the way you protect each other when you're being insulted." Her tone became sad."My friends would never do that for me."

"I know I make fun of you and Christian a lot, but the truth is, I wish I had a friendship like the one you two share. Even if you two are a pair of weirdo's, you look so happy when you're together. Like you don't have a care in the world. I wish I could do that, just go around not caring what anyone thinks." She smiled sadly at me. "You're special you know that. I always envied that you could dress like shit and still pull it off. You don't have to try like the rest of us do to look good."

I stared at Mia in shock. I never knew she harbored those feelings. I always thought she was happy being popular and beautiful. She never let on to how she was really feeling. I found myself being somewhat grateful for my life, except for a couple of big things. First of all she didn't have a demon on her trail, secondly she wasn't a seer. And third of all she didn't have a murder haunting her dreams. All of which I couldn't mention to Mia. So instead I just mentioned the obvious.

"Well at least when you move on with your life you could leave this routine and be someone new. I will always be me, the freak. Or have you forgotten that me not caring what anyone thinks comes from being referred to the town freak so many damn times. Even if I were to change my look I would still be an outcast."

"But you're happy."

"No, I just make the best of what has been given to me." And I did, I made the best of my time with Christian. When I first met him I didn't want to be friends with him. I thought he was creepy. But seeing as I didn't have many choices I went along with it and became his friend.I ended up getting a best friend out of it. To this day it has been the best choice I have ever made.

"It's good that you do that. I think I would have cried myself to sleep each night if it were me. But you didn't. You're so strong. I wish I had some of your strength. Then maybe you wouldn't have to be comforting me all the time." Mia whispered timidly her head tucked down close to her neck.

"Naw, I'd still do it." We looked at each other and laughed. It was nice, freeing almost.

We talked more after that. This time I told her all about what Christian and I do. I told her about his weird obsession with the underworld, all the books I had to read with him. And I even got to see her wide eyed expression when I told her of all the times we attempted to contact the dead.

I told her of a particular story when Christian and I got a book instructing us how to contact the dead from beyond the grave. It said we had to get something the dead person owned when they were alive, so Christian got his grandfather's pendant and thought it'd be a smart idea to contact him. I snuck out and went to his house in the dead of night. We turned off all the lights in his bedroom and lit three red candles, putting them in a triangle between us. We were facing each other and we put the pendent in the middle of the candles.

The book said we had to conjoin hands and say the phrase "dead in this world speak now from the other world" in Latin. We had to say them over and over for a period of an hour so that the spirit could hear us.

Even though Christian didn't want to admit he was afraid, I could feel his hands shaking from fear. For an hour we repeated the verse and when the hour was up we had to spread the plant Rudas around us. The house was so silent we could hear each other's breath. Our hearts were pounding, and the air was fast becoming too thick to breathe in. All at once the candles extinguished and a dark shadow passed over us.

Christian and I screamed so loud, and he ran to the light switch and turned it on. The wide fear was apparent in both our faces. The room was empty and there was no sign of the shadow. We both chalked it up to overactive imaginations.

That night we slept together—not in that way. We just slept in the same room together. He offered me the bed, but I told him I would sleep on the floor. We both ended up camping out on the floor. He told me he wouldn't feel comfortable on the bed if I was on the floor.

Even though Christian would never admit it, he was afraid of sleeping in that room by himself. I took pity on him and told him I would sleep there that night. I wouldn't want to sleep by myself in that room either. At least not for that first night when it had freshly happened.

When I finished telling Mia the story she stared at me slack jawed. "You slept with a boy." She screeched out.

"Calm down. I didn't sleep with a boy. I slept with Christian, who doesn't count as a boy. At least to me he doesn't count."

"Still, I can't believe you sneaked out. I always thought it was only me who snuck out."

"Yeah, not quite. I do my share of bad things. I just don't get caught."

"Oh is that a jab at me, because I always get caught."

"Yep." I looked outside her window and noticed it was dark. We had been talking for a long time. I knew I had to go already, but I didn't want to. I was afraid that when I left what we had would disappear.

"Wow, it's getting late huh." Mia pointed out. "I guess we need to go to sleep and all cause it's." She glanced at her clock. "Eleven. How'd it get so late?" I honestly didn't know. It felt like six minutes had past instead of six hours.

"I guess I'll go." I whispered quietly as I walked out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Mia."

The last thing I saw was her wide smile as I closed the door.

When I went into my room I didn't go to sleep. I knew that I had to go to Christian's house in the early morning—probably at one or two am. I was breaking the promise I made Dimitri about not going, but I couldn't let this go. I knew that Christian had the book. Even if he denies it, I know that it's there. I saw it.

I decide to go at two. I put on and all black ensemble—black pants, shirt, and shoes—to blend into the night. I felt like a robber, a criminal.

I cracked open my window slowly—I didn't want it to squeak—and climbed out. The morning air came with a chill. The streets were completely abandoned.

I used the mossy vines attached to my house to balance myself before I landed with a thud on our lawn. I quickly righted myself and looked around. Everything was still undisturbed. There were no car's driving in the streets, no lingering voices. It was dead silence.

Walking to Christian's house at night wasn't a rare occurrence. I had done it a plentiful of times. But this was going to be the first time we didn't arrange the meeting. I felt like I was betraying him. Christian whom I do everything with; suddenly I was leaving him out of the loop. He didn't know what was going on with me. I didn't know how to tell him. I knew I should. He was one of the few people who would believe me. But I couldn't, not yet at least. I needed to figure it out first.

I had been walking about a block when I took notice how unbelievably silent it was. I noticed it when I first came down from the window, it had been dead silent. I didn't think much of it at first but as time progressed I started to get suspicious. There had to be at least one small noise to accompany me. It was never this silent, at least not for long. A noise always shattered it, but there was none.

I looked around, there was nothing but dark lined up houses, with empty lawns. There were no dogs in this neighborhood to give a friendly howl. And the trees along the sidewalk were still. Birds and squirrels usually made at least a small noise against the trees, but nothing . That's what it was, I realized. The silence, it was because all the animals—birds, squirrels, and insects—weren't making their usual noises. They seemed to have disappeared.

My breath caught in my throat. Didn't animals leave when they sensed a great danger? They had like a sixth sensed which allowed them to feel something we humans didn't. I felt an icy chill creep up my spine.

I began to walk faster. The sooner I got to Robert's house the better.

I had managed to walk another block when I felt it. It was so shrill, it made my bones quake. I was assaulted with the presence of a person. I could feel them near me even though I couldn't see them.

"Hello." I called out. It was stupid, but I'd rather this person come out in the open then stay hidden.

I felt the prickly sensations crawl along my skin. It was the same sensation you get when you know you're being watched. I turned around slowly before I saw him. He was standing at the end of the block, deep in the shadow of the tree next to them. He was so well hidden that all I could make out was his height; he was tall, very tall.

For one brief second I let myself hope it was Dimitri. That is until he ran towards me. I shrieked when I saw him charging. There was no doubt from his posture. He was not coming towards me for a friendly visit. He pumped his legs faster, running like a track star.

Panic bubbled inside me as I worked the courage to run away from him. My heart beat faster, perspiration slid down my forehead. I ran faster than I ever had, pumping my arms and legs. Still it wasn't enough, he was catching up fast. My breath was coming out in rasps.

I wanted to scream, to yell for help, but I didn't have enough air in my lungs to do it.

If I ever had to describe what the worst way to die was, it would have to be being chased down by a mad man. Simply because being chased is one of the most scariest things in the world. Even as a kid, I would get scared when we would play tag and someone would chase me. The act of being chased is just something so unnerving that at one point I thought about stopping and turning myself in. Anything would be better than this.

I kept running though. I had tears pouring out of my eyes. My heart was nearly coming out of my mouth. He was closer, too close. I could feel his heat; his feet were almost stepping on mine. I felt an arm grab my shoulder. I tried to shake it but I collided with something hard in front of me. Hands, warm comforting ones steadied me. I clutched to them for dear life and buried myself in their chest.

They smelled like honey suckle, like the woods on a spring day. They smelled like home. I found myself letting out a few tears before I choked back the sob that was threatening to come out. Those hands pried lose my fingers and came to rest on my cheek, tilted my head up to meet chocolate brown.

His eyes looked down at me with such concern I almost cried, but I couldn't. I couldn't let Dimitri see how affected I was. He was so strong, I felt ashamed to admit my weakness.

"What happened?" He looked behind me to see if anything was there. As expected the streets were silent once again. There was no sign of the man. He was gone, for now. "Rose, look at me." I did. "What was chasing you?" His brow wrinkled. I knew he had an idea as to what it was, but he wanted me to confirm it.

"I don't know. I couldn't see his face, he was in a shadow."

He stilled. "Shadowed?"

I nodded. His face hardened. "What did I tell you about going out alone?" He was trying to collect himself, but the anger was radiating off of him. "Do you know what could have happened? You could have been killed. Why don't you ever listen?" He ranted. His eyes pierced me.

"I'm sorry." It was all I could say. But I knew it wasn't enough.

"Sorry? You're sorry. You don't how sorry you'd be if he would have caught you. Do you think this is a game, Rose? Because, trust me, the next time you do something stupid you won't be thinking it's a game." He looked so mad, so worried. I hated knowing I was causing this to him. He wouldn't have to be saving me if I would listen to him.

"Let's go." He huffed. I didn't know what else to say to him so I just followed. The streets were still empty but there was noise now. The wind whistling in my ear, the animals resuming their night lives. It was as if Dimitri brought the life back to the streets. His presence was comforting. I walked beside him knowing I was safe. He had become my safe harbor. I didn't know what to think about that yet.

I had traveled a good distance when the man chased me. We were only about half a block away from Christian's house. Dimitri didn't talk—probably still mad at me—but he did place his hand on the small of my back. I took that as a sign that he was getting over his anger.

It took us a couple of minutes to arrive in front of Christian's cream colored house. Dimitri looked like he was observing the perimeter. He was studying the landscape, the house. Trying to find the best way to execute the plan.

I was just simply planning to climb up the tree that was next to Christian's window and get in through there. But Dimitri thought it was too risky. Especially since I admitted that the window does make a certain grinding noise when opened.

He finally seemed to settle on a plan. "We should just walk in through the front door."

"What? You want us to just walk in through the front door like a pair of house guest?" Was he crazy?

"Exactly," he grinned. "Judging by the house and the little patio set I see peeking out the back yard, they most likely hide the key in one of those fake rocks beside the porch."

"They're not fake." At least I don't think they are. I've seen those rocks there since the first time I came to his house. They seemed pretty real to me.

"Trust me, at least one of those rocks are fake. No one buys decorative rocks unless one of them is holding a key." I didn't know whether to ar or keep my trap shut. I chose the latter and let him saunter up to the porch and pick up one of the rocks.

He shot me a mocking smile when he pulled out a key. "Told you there was a key in here." He said as I walked towards him.

"Yeah, yeah. So you found a key, big deal. That still doesn't save us from the fact that we have to go into someone's house." I was never nervous about breaking into Christian's room. If he caught me all I would get was a stern questioning. If his parents heard someone breaking in they wouldn't go down to check it out. They would call the cops in a flash.

"Don't tell me you're nervous. What happened to fearless Rose?"

I ignored his question. "Dimitri, what'll happen if we get caught?"

"We won't." The determination in his eyes almost had me convinced. "Plus, as long as we're both quiet they'll have no reason to know anyone's in there."

"Ok." Quiet, I can be. I had been sneaking out of my room for years without my parents knowing it. I was stealth when I wanted to be.

Dimitri opened the door slowly and poked his head inside. He went in first and signaled me to follow behind him.

Christian's house was so dark inside, I had trouble seeing. It took me awhile to get used to the poor lighting. I barely made out the couches in the living room before Dimitri gestured me to go upstairs.

We crept up the staircase, our footsteps barely registering on the floor. Dimitri wasn't making any noise behind me. Even his breaths were muted. He's done this before, I decided. He was too quiet, too calm, for this to have been his first time.

I struggled to keep my breath even._ Just a couple more steps_, I thought.

Traveling through the house was the easy part. Going inside Christian's room to search wasn't. We would have to be quiet while searching, and to top it all off have someone be only a couple of feet away. Knowing that at any moment they could wake up and catch you.

As soon as we opened his door I noticed something different. Christian's entire room was littered with books. They were thrown vicariously around the room. I didn't even know he owned this many, and that wasn't even counting the comics he has stashed under his bed.

I wasn't sure where to begin. Any one of these books could be it. But something told me that fate was going to screw me over. It was confirmed when Dimitri nudged me on the shoulder.

"What?" My whisper was barely audible.

He pointed towards Christian where he was currently sprawled half way off the bed. His mouth open wide where a loud chain saw snoring was emanating from.

I was going to ask Dimitri what his point was when I saw what he was really pointing at. Christian was cradling a book in his arms. I had a bad feeling about this. I took a step closer and managed to see the faint lettering of the title.

Christian was holding The Seer's Handbook.

Apparently Christian was keeping his own secrets, starting with the book. What happened with never having heard of it? He looked so damn sincere when he told me. And now I find him, red handed, with the book. He lied to me. I was supposed to be his best friend and he was lying to me.

I almost tore the book from his grasps, but Dimitri stopped me. He glared at me hard as he held me in his arms. I was fuming.

He pinned me against his chest with one arm while the other snaked to me face and pulled my head closer to his lips. "What do you think you're doing?" He whispered venomously.

I shook my head. I didn't even know. In that split second I was mad enough to get us both discovered, but rationality returned to me.

"I'll get the book." I whispered. He looked at me questioningly. "I promise I won't do anything."Even though I really wanted to smack Christian over the head with the book.

He released me slowly, gauging my reaction. I approached Christian with Dimitri on my heels. And very carefully removed the book from his hand. I looked at his face to make sure that he wasn't waking. My heart went completely still when he stirred. His breathing cut off before it went back to normal and I relaxed.

I signaled to Dimitri htat I had it and quickly got out of the room. I didn't want to be in there one more minute. Dimitri followed me out.

Once we were a safe distance from the house I began the rant that had bubbled up in Christian's room.

I released all of my frustrations about Christian lying to me about the book. How we were supposed to be best friends to the end. Yet he was keeping secrets from me. By the end I was huffing for air, trying to regain my calm. Dimitri didn't say anything. He only listened to me yell.

"Are you done now?" Dimitri asked when I stayed quiet.

Was I done, I thought. "I think I am."

"Good." My face hardened, he noticed. "Don't look at me like that. It's good that you took that off your chest, that's all I meant. As for Christian lying to you, think of it as the end of innocence. Only kids are honest to each other. Adults lie all the time; whether for their own benefit or for others. You got to learn to accept it." He sounded so wise; his words, so truthful. Christian and I had lost our innocents. We weren't sneaking into each other's room, goofing around anymore. We were drifting.

In this short period of time Christian and I had taken two steps back. We used to do everything together. I would see him every day and text him constantly. For the first time in years I didn't spend my day with Christian.

"What are you thinking of?" He asked.

"I just realized I didn't see Christian all day—if you don't count his sleeping form, which I don't. It's just weird."

"On the plus side, you got to spend your day with me. That's like an added bonus." He winked. Why couldn't he stay serious for one second? He was always reverting back to his cocky self-assured nature. I knew why, he was hiding himself, keeping his emotions in check.

"So does this mean Rico Suave is back?" I asked.

"Hardly, Rico whatever has nothing on me." He scoffed. "He's the imitation, I'm the original."

"Yes, I bet Dimitri Belikov is what every girl wants to scream out." I replied sarcastically. "It's a bit of a mouthful though, don't you think. Not as easy to roll out of your tongue."

"Oh your tongue will be rolling, don't worry about that." He looked at me meaningfully and I gave a harsh laugh. He was doing it again. Looking at me with those eyes that muddy my brain.

"We should really get you home. Talking in the middle of an empty block at two thirty in the morning isn't exactly smart." He looked around reminding me of the danger I was still in; of the man who chased me down.

"You're right." I clutched the book tightly to my chest—guarding it with my life. I chanced a glance at him. He was so tall compared to me. His body posture was menacing, he looked ready to take down anything that came at us. He was protecting me, I realized. Making sure that no harm came to me, like a body guard of sorts.

This man came out in the early hours of the morning on a hunch that I would disobey. He sneaked out of his house and came to find me so I wouldn't be unprotected. He helped me break into a house to find a book that might not have been in there to begin with. And I wouldn't even be here without him. The chasing man would have caught me if not for him.

I owed Dimitri a lot, I realized. I hadn't done anything but bicker with him, and all he has been trying to do was help me.

"Thank you." I murmured. He looked towards me, surprised.

"For what?"

"For everything. I know I haven't acted very grateful for your help, but I am. Sometimes you're asshole ways make me forget that you're helping me. So in case I forget at least I said thank you."

"Heart felt speech, Rose. I think I almost cried a little. But the asshole comment lost you some cool points."

He walked me to my house. His face becoming angry when I told him I would have to climb up the vines to get to my room.

"And risk falling to your death." He said incredulously. He crossed his arms and gave me a hard look. "I'll cut you a deal. I won't make you go through your front door, if I am absolutely sure you'll be able to go in safely through your window."

"Deal." I wasn't sure exactly how he was going to make sure it was safe. Maybe test the vines and stand under me in case I fall. Unfortunately neither guess was right.

"Dimitri put me down!" I whisper shouted. I still had my parents catching me outside to worry about.

"Let me think about that. Umm no."

Dimitri had, in his opinion, come up with the perfect solution. He decided that for me to go up safely he would have to carry me up there.

He carried me on his back, basically giving me a piggyback ride. And while I thrashed and beat on his back, he climbed up the vines with the ease and precision of an expert climber. Even having me on his back didn't deter from his form.

"This is completely unnecessary. I've climbed up these vines like a million times before."

He paused in his climbing. "Why, Rose, I didn't know what a rebel you were. Am I going to have to make a stake out outside your house a regular occurrence?"

"Absolutely not!" He had resumed his climbing and finally made it to my window. Sliding it open, I was aghast when he pushed himself inside.

Dimitri was in my room, he entered my sanctuary. His big hands reached behind him and gently—more gently than I expected—pulled me off of me lightly on my feet.

He apparently didn't have manners either because he started looking around my room, going through my stuff. I pulled him back by his sleeve. "What do you think you're doing?" I whispered urgently. A little bit of panic might have slipped through my tone.

"Just wanted to see your inner sanctum." He made a grand jester of waving his hand around my room.

"You don't think that maybe you should have asked me."

"No need, I know you would have said yes." He grinned. His eyebrows raised. "Unless I'm wrong, tell me Rose, do you want me to leave." He had stepped closer to me, too close. His eyes challenging but there was something in them. I couldn't quite figure it out, but it was something like longing.

"Why do you even want to see my room?" I challenged. "Don't have any good things in yours, you've got to grub off of mine."

He got a lazy grin on his face. "Darling, I don't need to grub off of you. I have my very own personal house. If you ever want to visit, give me a call. I won't mind if you grub off of me." He took another step closer to me and a hot flush settled all over my body when I felt his hand reach into my pants pocket. He was so close I could smell him, his body heat was consuming. And all the while he looked at me, his eyes teasing. I could have slapped his hand away but I didn't. I had no idea what he was doing until he pulled out my silver cell from my front pocket.

He dialed something into it while I tried to unsuccessfully snatch it out of his hands and gave it back to me. "There, now you'll have more than three people on your contact list."

"I…. what?" Did Dimitri give me his phone number?"

"Oh and Rose, sweet dreams." He whispered as he walked over to my window and climbed out. I was left in shock. It took me a second to re-cooperate myself but by then he was gone. There was no sign of him when I looked out my window. The streets were empty again.

Dimitri was becoming a constant in my life. His name was there, officially on my contacts list.

I had gotten a boy's—a cute boy's—number today. Somehow the thought made me giddy. I wasn't one to get digits.

The next morning came too soon. I felt like my head had barely touched the pillow when the alarm rang. It was hard to open my eyes, they seemed permanently glued shut.

With a groan I finally managed to coax them to open. But when I opened my eyes I noticed I wasn't alone. Sitting down on my desk chair angled towards my direction was, Dimitri.


	9. Chapter 9 Breakfast with the fam

**Hey thanks for the reviews, for your interest in this story and for reading this story. Sorry that I can't give much away, but you'll all figure it out soon. Anyways the last chapter ended with Rose waking up with Dimitri in her room in case you forgot. And here's the rest. Review and tell me what you think.**

Dimitri was in my room, again. Did he have no shame? And more importantly had he been watching me sleep? Because if he had I would die of mortification. I wasn't a peaceful sleeper. Christian once told me that I snored louder than a stampede. Worst of all I drool. My cheeks surely have dried drool crust, my hair is a messy tangle, and the pajamas I was wearing weren't exactly Dimitri appropriate.

"What are you doing in my room?" I shrieked.

"Keep your voice down. You don't want your parents to discover a boy in your room." He seemed to think about that for a second. "Unless, of course, you want us to meet that way"

He had a shit eating grin on his face. He was enjoying this a little too much. "Nice doll by the way. Totally not weird that a girl your age still sleeps with Elmo." He laughed. "But if I can make a suggestion you should probably burn it.. " Dimitri glanced down at me, "And those pajamas too while you're at it."

My face grew bright red."What's wrong with my pajamas?" I huffed. It was my usual gray cotton pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. The ensemble seemed passable, it wasn't like I was wearing Spongebob pajamas.

"What's wrong with it? Well for starters they're not lacy and they cover way too much skin." He leaned in closer towards me and whispered secretively,"It's not exactly what I want to see on a girl when I sneak into her house."

I grabbed my pillow and chucked it at him. He dodged, chuckling quietly at my temper."If you want I'll help burn those retched pajamas. You can just take them off and hand them over." He looked me over. "Unless you need help taking them off. I'm all for that too."

I was ready to chuck my other pillow at him. He grinned, his eyes following my hand as they reached for the second pillow. But I didn't grab it. I was still lying in a half sitting position, but something stirred inside me. I suddenly wanted to one up the bastard. "Sure." I told him as seductively as I could. "I need extra help with my cloths. Mind taking them off for me." I tried to imitate the way Mia bites her lips when she wants a guy's attention. Dimitri stared at me in shocked. I wanted to give myself a high five for finally rendering him speechless.

"Is that a no?" I continued, my voice sounded breathy, even to me. "Can you at least tell me why you're here?"

He seemed to shake his head clear of the confusion. "I… yeah. For the book. I was going to ask you to come with me to the forest. We could ditch school today and I could help you with the book." His voice came out ruff. He seemed to be struggling with something. He couldn't even meet my eye, he kept looking everywhere except at me.

"What's wrong? Is Dimitri feeling awkward because a girl got the best of him." I teased. Dimitri always flustered me; it was an interesting change to see the tables turned.

"I am not awkward." He bit out. "Just thinking of how you'll look better, on the table or on your bed." His voice seemed to regain that flirty charm of his.

"Better how?"

"When I finally give it to you, I want to know what the better place will be. With the desk I could just knock off all the things and lay you on it. Seems more wild." He grinned. "But the bed, that's more comfortable."

I couldn't believe it. Was he actually talking about sex? My face must have shown my indignation because his face softened.

"Just go change out of that horrible excuse for a pajama and meet me outside. Tell your sister, you got another ride to school, or something." He paused. "Better yet, I'll come to your house and tell her myself." He made his way back to the window and started climbing out.

"But you're already in the house." I told him confused.

He looked back at me. "Yes, but I have to make my formal entrance through the front door." And then he was gone.

I changed quickly into my standard jeans and t-shirt, opting for a red one rather than my usual black. I had been told that red is my color; it brightened my tan skin tone transforming it to a beautiful golden brown.

I quickly combed my hair and pulled it up in a ponytail. My hair looked nicer than usual. I almost had the impulse of leaving it down but figured it would be weird showing up like that. I didn't exactly leave my hair down, I always pulled it up. If I went down there with it cascading down my shoulders it would only fuel my parent's belief that I was dating Dimitri. Not to mention what Dimitri might make of this. He would probably think I was doing it to impress him.

When I finished with my hair I stuffed the new book into my bag and ditched the other—I wasn't going to carry both, they were really heavy—and made my way down the stairs, hoping that Dimitri hadn't arrived yet. I hadn't heard the door, but Dimitri was sneaky when he wanted to be.

I stood in the living room, unaware if I should wait beside the door, or settle the hunger in my stomach. I settled for the latter and poked my head into the kitchen.

The kitchen table had six chairs, being a family of four, two were always left unfilled. My dad pitches fork fights to prevent anyone from sitting in his chair at the head of the table. My mother follows dad's suit and sits on the other end. Leaving Mia and I to pick the seats in the middle. Even having a selection of four chairs we always sit in the same ones. Mia sits on the one closest to my mom on the right side. And I sit on the one in the left side closest to my dad.

But this time when I saw the table, one of the unfilled chairs had someone in it. It also happened to be the chair next to mine. Dimitri had come in, who knows how long after he climbed out my window, and was talking to my family, like if it was the most normal thing in the world. He was just sitting there with a plate of food in front of him; chatting them up like if they were all best friends.

And my family was laughing, all of them laughing in perfect union to a joke Dimitri was dishing out. They all looked so happy. Mia was laughing so hard she was supporting herself on the table so that she wouldn't fall off of her chair. My mom next to her had tears in her eyes from the laughter, and my dad—the one who supposedly went hard on his daughter's boyfriend—was looking at Dimitri with a genuine smile on his face.

I couldn't help but think that this is what a family looks like. I'd never seen my family look so happy over breakfast, not even during lunch and dinner. They were laughing, and I wasn't there. I quickly slipped out of the kitchen before they noticed me. I didn't want to ruin their apparent happiness. I had a knack for wiping the smiles out of people's faces.

I didn't get far into the living room when someone stopped me.

"What do you think you're doing, huh, Rose?" Dimitri asked. I didn't even hear him come up behind me. He was a sneaky bastard sometimes.

"Nothing, just wanted to get something." I lied.

"Really." He looked at me, his gaze saying _yeah right_. "You should have stayed. I was waiting for you. Why'd you run out like that?" So Dimitri saw me leave. I didn't even think he noticed.

"I didn't want to interrupt. You guys were having fun in there. I didn't want to ruin it." I smiled meekly.

He looked confused. "Why would you ruin it? The best part of the kitchen was when I saw you enter, well somewhat enter."

I didn't have time to tell him that I wouldn't be ruining it for him. I would be ruining it for my family since they always get a little tenser when I enter. My mother chose that time to enter the living room. Her eyes lighting up when she spotted Dimitri and I.

"There you are, Rose." She said before turning her full attention to Dimitri. "And where do you think you're running off to. I think I'm going to have to adopt you as my son to keep you here, you're just so charming." She laughed. "Rose, why didn't you bring your friend here sooner?" She scolded before turning her bright smile back on.

So now Dimitri was just my friend. Before she was convinced that he was my boyfriend.

Dimitri and I followed her back into the kitchen. At first I felt guilty that I was going to ruin their breakfast; but I didn't. We were a normal family for once. It was kind of fun, being able to hear the family goof around. I even joined in a couple of times. Dimitri told us stories about his old school that had even me laughing at full volume. I noticed one thing though, Dimitri, was respectful when he wanted to be. He didn't mention one sexual comment and kept a big gap between us. I could tell my family loved him.

Apparently Dimitri had told them, before I got there, about taking me to school because of a student teacher meeting we both had to attend before school. Seeing how respectful, witty, and charming he was my parents—well my mom mostly—agreed.

Dimitri was the first out the door when we left. I lagged it a little behind and managed to catch a tid bit of a conversation my mother was having with Mia. I was closing the front door but caught it before it closed all the way, leaving a little crack open, to hear from.

"You should try to go out with, Dimitri. He's a real catch. Delightful, really, I wouldn't mind him coming over for dinners." My mother sighed. "He really seems to put the family together. I don't think we've all just sat together and laughed in a long time." She added wistfully.

"But he doesn't like me, remember. I tried once and failed. Plus he likes, Rose."

"Nonsense he was acting perfectly fine with you today. I don't think he doesn't like you. Who wouldn't like you anyways?"

"Apparently him." She had a sour tone in her voice. Did she still like Dimitri? "But why are you asking me to get with him. Rose, is clearly the object of his affection?"

"Because, sweetie," She had a sad tone in her voice, "This boy has a certain aurora to him which makes him well liked. The second he opens his mouth to speak, or when he just smiles and laughs, that boy will have no trouble making lots of friends. Rose, just isn't the type of person who could socialize. You've seen what happens with her. People are afraid of her. If she ever assumes a relationship with this boy it would only lead to her heartbreak. It won't last, for him at least. He doesn't have many friends right now, but how do you think Rose is going to feel when he's surrounded with friends. How do you think he's going to feel when his friends call his girlfriend a _freak_." She took a deep breath. "I hate it when they call her that. And I hate to think how much that name will get to her if he breaks up with her because of it. You have to make sure that Dimitri doesn't assume a relationship with her. Friends they could be, but anything else would end up hurting her."

I closed the door, not wanting to eavesdrop anymore. My mom wanted Mia to be with Dimitri, not me. She was the big catch after all. And apparently Dimitri was too high for my standards.

"Rose." Dimitri waved at me from his car. "Going to get in anytime soon?" His dark hair was mussed messily, his face was inviting, warm, and I couldn't stop looking at it. He was too perfect. He was funny, had a natural charisma when unleashed, and his looks were perfection. He would never be meant for me, even my own mother knew that. I didn't dwell on that fact too much. I still wasn't sure if I even liked Dimitri. My automatic answer was no. Handsome boy plus me just doesn't add well together. If I was meant for someone it would have to be one of those overly tattooed guys that have a split tongue and metal implants. Those guys could actually be seen with a girl like me and not be ridiculed. They would see us together and think, "well that makes sense."

I hurried over to his car and climbed in. The scent of lemon hit me strong. I gave him a questioning glance. "I had a lot of time yesterday after I dropped you off. Figured I'd give this baby a good cleaning."

"So, you driving us to school." I had thought of something he clearly didn't pay mind to.

"Sure, "school"." He said cryptically.

"No really, school. Or have you forgotten we have Mia for first period." We needed to at least go to that class so that Mia doesn't get suspicious.

"Crap." He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I forgot that Mia was that annoying girl in our class."

I hid my smile behind my hand. "So, I say we go to first period, then ditch afterwards like yesterday."

"About that." He gave me a tight smile. "We should be more careful. People might be watching us." People? "We can't be acting too chummy in class. We should make a meeting spot. After class I'll go out first. I'll meet you beside the school, next to Ricker street. Is that ok?"

"Ok, I could do that."

"You got the book?"

I tapped my hand against my bag, "of course."

We drove to school in comfortable silence. Neither one of us had anything to say, but it wasn't awkward. We were comfortable just being near each other. I used that time to pull out my phone and text Christian. I didn't warn him the day before that I wasn't going to be in school. And even though I was still mad at Christian for keeping the book from me, I didn't want to completely ignore him. Once I texted him I shut off my phone. I didn't have time to explain to him why I wasn't going to be there when he texted back.

When we arrived to school we made sure not to be too close to each other. We walked together to class but we had a no contact gap between us. I would have made a joke about him taking this whole people watching us too seriously. But after the shadowed man and creepy Eddie, I was starting to take as much caution as he does.

We didn't talk the whole way to class. From the outside we looked like two students walking in the same direction. There was no sign of friendliness between us. But what people couldn't see was that from the corner of his eye, he kept a constant watch of me. I could feel his gaze radiating over me.

In class, we sat next to each other. But we didn't talk or make jesters. We listened to what Mr. Nagy was lecturing about—which was something about limits—and later did the problems he assigned on the board.

The students made slight speculations about Dimitri and I's fall out friendship. Agreeing that the past two days were a fluke and that the normal hostility had settled between us.

Aside from that, no one really paid us much attention. The class was still buzzing about Natalie, but it wasn't as heavy as yesterday. They all talked in quiet tones so that Mr. Nagy wouldn't hear them. He was currently, nose deep in a magazine, and even if he did hear them, he paid them no mind.

The students were trying to dissect who the last person to talk to Natalie was.

"She was talking to Lissa, remember, before she left home." One of the students was saying.

"No, she talked to Erin after she talked to Lissa."

"Yeah, but then her mom came to pick her up."

"No, after she talked to Erin she talked to this other girl right when her mom came."

"Well who was it."

"I don't know who. All I know was that she had this wild hazelnut hair. It was up in a bun. And she had ugly boy jeans. I didn't get a look at her face though."

That snapped me out of my eaves dropping. I knew who the girl they were talking about was. But apparently no one else did. No one saw that girl's face when Natalie approached her—or maybe they didn't care enough to figure out who it was at the time. The point was that nobody knows that it was me who Natalie approached last.

That day, I never expected her to come up to me. We hadn't talked since we were eleven. Natalie had ignored me completely these past couple of years. She acted like we were never friends. But that day she came up to me. And she was happy.

"Rose, I am so glad you're here. I've been looking everywhere for you." Natalie smiled at me genuinely. Her deep green eyes alive with mirth.

"Why are you talking to me?" I asked confused. I had been waiting the mandatory fifteen minutes before being allowed to enter the car. And now Natalie was here, bright as a daisy like if we were best friends again.

"Because, silly, I have a secret." She bounced up with excitement; her black hair bobbing in her ponytail. "I was asked not to tell anyone." She whispered. "But you're not going to tell anyone, right, Rose. You were always good at that, keeping a secret. I miss that about you. My friends now are big blabbers. I can't tell them anything. "

"Anyways." She continued. "I have a date tonight. It's in this secret place. He hasn't told me where but he's going to lead me there tonight." She smiled in thought. "I really like him. I wish I could tell my friends about him but he told me to wait until he meets them."

"So you're going on a date." _And I care why?_

"Yep, I can't believe it. I have to bust a mission impossible just to get out of my house but it's worth it. Anyways I have to go." She pointed at a brown minivan that had pulled up next to the school.

Natalie snuck out to go with some guy. Later, when she disappeared, I felt guilty for not asking her for his name. I should have asked questions. I could have fond out who her killer was. Now it's too late. But I will find him; that I swear.

I felt the prickle sensation that alerted me that someone was watching me. I always felt those tingles when Dimitri sat behind me. But now he wasn't. Dimitri was sitting next to me, diligently doing his work. Someone else was watching me, and I had a clue as to who that was.

I turned my head slightly and met the beady eyes of Eddie. He smirked and turned his eyes towards Dimitri before returning them back to me. He shook his head no, warning me.

I snapped my head back to my assignment, but the illusion was ruined. Eddie knew there was something going on between Dimtri and I. No amount of pretend was going to change that.

As soon as the bell rang Dimitri sped out of the room, paying me no mind. I made sure to take my time putting my supplies away. I didn't want to be tempted to run after him.

"What's with you and Dimitri?" Mia asked as she skipped to my table. "You guys looked all serious in your work. I didn't even see you talk once."

"Don't worry," I looked around, almost everyone had left the classroom. "Now you can have a shot with Dimitri. It'll be just what mom wants."

She sighed. "So you heard that. Listen, I told her I wasn't going to do it because Dimitri doesn't like me. I'm not such a fool to go after a guy who's clearly not interested." She ran her fingers through her long glossy hair. "Besides, it's about time I help my little sis get the guy."

She looked at me with the determination of a warrior, I couldn't help but laugh. This would surely mean a make-over.

"No, no make-overs."

"I wasn't going to suggest a make-over. He seems to like you just the way you are—as crazy as that seems."

"Is it really that crazy for a guy to like me, for being just me?" She gave me a look that said of course it is.

"Thanks for all the moral support." I replied sarcastically.

"Don't make it sound like that. I am supporting you."

"Could have fooled me." I walked out of the classroom, Mia trailing behind me. "Anyways, there's no need to help me out with Dimitri. There is nothing going on between us for you to help me with."

She gave me a skeptical look but changed the subject. "Ok then, how are you and Christian doing?"

_Was she serious?_ "Are you actually attempting to make small talk with me, in front of the school population."

"Don't look at me like that. I am just trying to right some wrongs. Start a fresh new pallet so to speak." We had reached the endpoint of the hallway. I would either have to go left into the other connected hallway, or keep going straight to exit outside.

"Christian and I are doing fine." _And another thing, please leave. I can't go outside if you're watching me. _I thought.

"Yeah, you guys are really creating quite a stir. First you and Dimitri start being friends, and now Christian and Lissa."

Wait what? "What do you mean Christian and Lissa?"

"Nothing, it's just that I saw them going into a classroom, alone, during lunch yesterday. They stayed in there for the whole half-hour." _Christian and Lissa, Lissa the girl who constantly calls us loser's and freaks. Christian was talking to her. _"Didn't Christian tell you?" Mia looked at me apologetically.

"No, but I guess it's because I didn't see him yesterday. I'll talk to him today and ask him about it."

"Oh, ok then. I better go to my class now." She turned around and walked the opposite way from me. I saw her walk till she disappeared from my view.

I knew I had to go but I was frozen there. Even when the bell rang I stayed there thinking. Why would Christian be talking to Lissa? How did it even happen? Lissa had a strict no freaks rule.

A creaking door broke through my thoughts. I looked towards the heavy front doors and found Dimitri's head peeking through.

"What are you still doing in here? We have to go, remember." The reminder of the book was probably the only thing that got me to leave. I had to learn what was inside it. I would deal with Christian later.

Half an hour later I found myself sitting down with Dimitri in the woods. The book was in our laps. The surrounding envelopment of trees were our only companions. Well, besides the bears that roam around the sequoia woods, but I tried not to think of that.

The book was weird, only the beginning sections of it were filled the rest of the book were all blank pages. Dimitri exhaled ruffly. "I didn't think it would matter. Usually your guide allows the rest of the pages of the book to be seen. But seeing as you don't have a guide I didn't think it would matter."

"So what do I do now?"

"I guess just read the parts it does show and the rest we'll just play it by the ear."

I had figured out that much. The book might not have much, but it did explain some crucial parts. "Look," I pointed out to Dimitri, "It describes the seer and the guide."

It all started with the guide. Guides are humans who have been granted the power to make seer's. They harness a huge amount of information. The older the guide, the more they know. And since young guides don't know as much as the older guides they never get to guard a seer on their own. They have to learn their information first hand, and from the book. Young guides work along side an older one and learn at the same pace as the seer does.

The guide paves the way and help a seer believe in the world of the other. They are also there protectors. A guide's sole purpose—aside from teaching the seer—is to keep the seer alive. They hide them somehow. It didn't exactly say how they hid them but I guess that's only information a guide could have.

It was all very interesting but what really got my attention was the part about the seer. Some of the parts were like Dimitri said, how they see the past and the future to act on the present. But there was other things. It explained how a seer's power is more powerful when a demon is close by. Usually a seer has to concentrate really hard to get a vision. But when the demon is near by the vision comes instantaneously.

The role of the seer is to stop demons from infesting the Earth. It showed many different traps a seer could set for the demon like the blood trap which was exactly how it sounded. Apparently you draw a circle on the floor, that's at least five feet wide in all directions, and write the demons name all in blood. The demon would get trapped inside the circle no matter where he is. Whoever's blood you get doesn't matter, it just has to be human. There were many other traps and I felt overjoyed to realize that I knew several of them from the research I made with Robert.

All in all, the explanation to get a vision was pretty easy. All you had to do was open your mind to the possibility that demons are out there. You have to know in your heart that you're a seer. And when that feeling of truth settles over you, you have to relax, stay calm and take deep breaths like if you were meditating. You have to concentrate, to feel the energy zooming through your body and eventually the process comes so naturally to you it'll be like breathing.

Apparently though, it was easier said than done. As soon as I saw how easy it was, I did exactly what it said. I cleared my head. I let myself believe in demons and in my being a seer. I concentrated. I was in tune with my body. I even sat crossed legged with my elbows on my knees and my fingers forming a ring. All I was missing was saying "oooommmmmm".

"It's not working." I hissed. "Why isn't it working? I did everything it says."

"Obviously, you're not going to get it on the first time." He drawled. I was actually hoping for exactly that to happen.

He leaned against a massive tree, and studied me closely. "With a bit of practice you might get it. But don't expect it to be over night. Remember that it takes Seer's years to master their powers. That's why they start their training so young."

I hadn't thought of that. "Then how am I ever going to save myself from the horned demon."

"By staying inside your house." He looked at me expectantly. "Or with me."

Having Dimitri as a constant body guard, the thought didn't sound as bad to me as it should.

I threw myself backwards on the ground and let out an annoyed breath. "Why did this guide even choose me anyways? It's obvious I can't do this. Maybe even they realized that." I flinched.

"What is it with you and your constant lack of self-esteem?" He asked pushing himself off of the tree. "Can you really not see yourself for who you really are?"His eyebrows were pulled tight together. I had annoyed him.

"Well this may be hard for you to understand since you have the whole female population licking your hand, but it's hard to believe that you're worth something when everyone else says the opposite. When apparently I'm the only seer a guide's ever left. I have lived years with people leaving me—people I called friends—and now I learned that the one who made me unlovable left me too." I had to stop my rambles before the tears falls. I will not cry in front of Dimitri. I would rather have my skin peeled off my flesh than have Dimitri see one tear fall from my eyes. Rose does not cry.

His expression turned tender. He had scratched a part of me that I didn't let anyone see—that I didn't want them to see. "You are not worthless. You have something—a gift—but that doesn't mean you are worthless. Remember what I told you, everyone else is just afraid of you. You could take that as a bad thing, but you got to admit you use it to scare people purposely sometimes." I guess he knew about my staring at people to get them to back off.

"It has its perks." I agreed. "But I'd rather no one be afraid of me. To be normal, or to at least have had some guidance."

He grimaced. "You're guide being lost is unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with you. Guides never make a mistake when they choose a seer. Especially since they have to make sure that the kid is strong, mentally. The things seer's see is not something just anyone could handle. The fact that you're here talking normally is proof enough that you're equipped for the job. A regular person would be a raving lunatic having seen the things you have."

He was trying to make me feel better. A tiny smile slipped through my lips. "Thanks."

"Getting into the habit of thanking me, aren't you."

"Don't be an ass."

"That's like asking me to not breathe. Both of which are impossible, in case you didn't get that." He grinned at me good naturedly.

"Shockingly, I got it." I teased back. Dimitri had a way of making me feel better that I was grateful for. He made me forget about the anxiety and panics that were settling in my body making them into a low hum, so easily ignored.

I lifted myself off the ground and dusted the dirt off my pants.

"So now that you're done with your self-loathing let's get down to business. First unbuckle your pants…. kidding." He said once he saw my face. "Seriously now, if you want to master this whole seer thing you've got to do the whole meditation thing every day. Especially after you've just had a dream."

I gave him a questioning look. "Why?"

"Because you're more open to your powers when you're sleeping. It's easier to get in tune with your seeing capability when you freshly had a vision." I shivered a little. Why did everything have to go back to my dream? Can't I ever get a nice vision, maybe one where demons are the ones that are getting killed, instead of the innocent.

"I guess I could try that tonight. Hey Dimitri…."

He quirked up his eyebrow."Yeah."

"You said that demons look like regular persons, right." He nodded. "I guess I was wondering, why is that?"

"I wondered when you were going to ask me that." He looked resigned. "And the answer is easy; they simply possess a well abled body. They replace the human soul with their own murky black to control the body. So they're able to walk around, talk, and even befriend us unsuspecting bastards." He shook his head in disgust.

"Possess like in the exorcist?" I asked, suddenly not wanting to hear the answer.

"Yes," He breathed out slowly, maybe because he saw how much this was affecting me. "Just without the head spinning." I looked into his eyes and saw the truth in them. I could read him so well now, his face was an unreadable mask but his eyes held his every emotion.

It all suddenly made sense. Why Dimitr was saying that I would never suspect who they are. It wasn't just because they look like regular people, it's because they could be people I know. People I would never suspect because I've known them for years.

Someone like Eddie, I realized, who a couple of days ago, was the geeky kid sitting in the desk behind mine. He was gawky, tripping over his oversized feet, and had a nervous tendency of biting his nails to the quick. Seeing him yesterday against the doorway looking calm and composed, even a bit sinister, I saw none of the old Eddie there. The only thing this new Eddie and the old one had in common was their looks. Everything else, from his posture to the look in his eye, was different.

And more importantly, Eddie, wanted me to stay away from Dimitri. Why would he want me to separate from him? There was only one reason I could think of. Eddie wants to get me alone.

Dimitri said the only way to be safe was to stay in my house or with him. After what happened yesterday—technically this morning—with the shadowed man chasing me, I believed him. The man left me alone as soon as I was with Dimitri. Could Eddie be the shadowed man? I wasn't sure yet. But him, wanting me to separate from Dimitri got him at the top of my list of suspects.

"What is it?" He asked. I realized I had been staring at Dimitri throughout my entire revelation. I probably looked like an idiot.

"Nothing," I answered quickly and snapped my face away from his so he wouldn't see my blush.

He took a step closer to me. His foot made little sound against the dirt. "You looked like you were dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. What is going on in that brain of yours?"

I wasn't sure if I should tell him about my suspicions about Eddie. But it was the look of concern he gave me that broke my silence. I told him everything, starting from meeting Eddie in the cemetery, to the weird encounter he and Mia had, ending with the warning Eddie gave me to stay away from Dimitri.

"So what do you think? Could Eddie be a demon?" I asked.

"It's definitely possible." He stroked his chin thoughtfully with his hands, before his eyes looked at me suspiciously. "What were you doing in the cemetery anyways?" Crap, maybe I should have lied and said I saw him at the grocery store.

"I was… you know, taking a walk with my dear sister." I said weakly.

His eyes narrowed. "A walk in the cemetery?" He said skeptically.

"Well—"

Something clicked in his head. "You saw something there, didn't you?" He realized.

"No, I…" I couldn't think of a single thing to say. I knew I had to come clean.

"You what?"

My head bowed forward. "I saw something there." I confessed. I wasn't quite ready to tell someone about Natalie. I had planned to avoid this topic for as long as possible. It was my little secret, I wasn't comfortable yet sharing it, but Dimitri was expecting an answer. So I told him. It all came out in a torrent. The reoccurring dreams about Natalie, the portal to the underworld opening, the black mist, everything I had kept inside of me came out. I didn't leave anything out.

When I was done, I felt oddly better. I had been keeping that secret so tightly bound within me, it felt good to let it out.

I felt so good, in fact, that it took me a while to notice that Dimitri went deathly still. He was frozen in his spot beside me. He was as still as the trees surrounding us. The little pebbles on the ground had more life than he did at the moment.

I sensed that something was wrong, and only Dimitri knew what. I shook him, hard, by the shoulder, barely causing him to stir. "Dimitri!" I yelled and kicked him hard in the shin.

"Ow." He turned to look at me—finally moving. His face looked angry, but then it changed into murderously furious.

"You," He pointed an accusing finger at me, "you saw him, and you thought it was smart not to tell me!" He didn't quite yell but his voice was louder than usual. There was an edge of venom in his tone. "Why would you keep something like that from me? Aren't I your demon consultant; if you see a demon you're supposed to tell whole thing I've been doing is to keep you save. And you choose now to tell me that you've seen him."

Dimitri paced back and forth in front of me, nearly pulling his hair out in frustration.

"This is big, huge. He's seen you. He knows for sure who you are now." The end of his shirt whipped around him as he continued his pacing.

"What are you talking about? Doesn't he already know who I am?" Isn't that why he's been trying to keep me safe this whole time, because the big bad demon knows that I'm a seer.

He stopped in front of me, rubbing his hand against his temple. "I thought he didn't know for sure if you were a seer. But if you saw him in his true form then he knows exactly who you are."

"What do you mean? It's not like if I was really there, how could he see me?"

"Because, when he's in his true form he can see you with his demon eyes. Those eyes are so powerful they can see anything, even a seer." He sounded exhausted."Fortunately for you, a demon can't survive long in its demon form when on Earth. That's why it needs a human body. And humans are just humans, they possess a normal eyesight. Demons can only see what their human bodies see."

"Oh crap." He saw me there. The demon actually looked at me. The eyes in the smoke, it was real. Were real, even when I was little I saw the eyes, the eyes that stared at me like if they could see me—did see me. I placed my hand on my head to keep steady. I was feeling woozy. The cool air from the forest did nothing to clear my thoughts. Fear climbed up my chest. "How long could a demon last without a body?" I asked. My voice was remarkable composed, revealing none of the panic I felt.

"A couple of hours at the most… Rose, are you alright." Dimitri looked at me for any signs of distress.

A couple of hours, would a demon leave a body for a couple of hours to torment a small girl? If the girl was a seer he would. If the girl was unprotected he would risk getting out of his human body to track her. But why did he stop?

"I'm fine. Never been better, actually." My voice sounded hallow even to my own ears. There was nothing funny in this situation. I couldn't even make a joke—which was the way I chose to handle stressful life had gone off the deep end in a week. It had turned from semi-normal to a complete freak world where demons run lose and seers fight them in some sort of ongoing battle that no one knows about.

"We should go. This whole thing was a bad idea. I should have never approached you." His face was full of remorse. "I am sorry, but I need to take you home now. Don't go anywhere else." He said fiercely. "Remember you're safe at home."

"Or with you," he turned his face away from me. "Or with you….. right?" My voice quivered.

He didn't look at me when he answered. "I don't think that's an option anymore."


	10. Chapter 10 Fucking Creep

**Hey guys. I know I left you in a bit of a cliffhanger in the last chapter. But that's just because I'm evil and did it on purpose lol. Anyways I tried to update quick so as to not leave you too much on the edge. Please Review and tell me what you think...(On a side note who is waiting for Silver Shadows?)**

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_"I don't think that's an option anymore."_

I wanted to ask why but he was already walking away from me—going in the general direction of the car. I hurried to catch up, he was walking fast.

"Dimitri." I huffed out. I was still a couple of steps behind him. Every time I would start catching up he would quicken his steps. "Dimitri, wait. You've got to answer me. I don't understand what's going on. Dimitri!"

"Stop yelling." He didn't stop in his steps, but at least he was talking. We passed tree, after tree. The heavy tangled branches were thinning the closer we got to the intersection. We were leaving the darkness of the forest, trading it in for the light that was starting to break through the trees. "It's not safe anymore. Even this little safe haven of ours is a danger." He pointed to the trees around us, yellowing and browning. "They take everything from us till we have nothing, don't they." He muttered angrily.

Dimitri had lived with the cruelty of demons far longer than I have. He knew far more than I did. I had to trust that he knew what he was doing. So I did what he wanted me to do. I kept my mouth shut and walked to his car.

His muttering had quieted down to a low hum by the time we got to his Mercedes. He gripped the wheel so hard with his hands I thought he was going to break it. But I knew what he was doing. He was channeling his anger towards the demons to the wheel. He didn't loosen his hold the whole car ride. I kept waiting for his hands to relax, they didn't.

"You've got to understand something." He told me, once we were almost at my house. His eyes kept glancing towards my face. "You can't trust anyone, just yourself. You have everything you need. You've got to practice, practice your seeing and practice the methods of demon trapping from the book. That's the only advice I could give you." Perspiration dripped down the side of his cheek, rolled down his neck, and disappeared under his shirt. He wasn't sweating because it was hot in the car; no it was more than that. Dimitri was nervous, afraid, and so many other things. I wanted to kick myself for not telling him sooner about the dreams.

"Where are you going to be?" I hadn't missed the fact that he didn't include himself. It was all you, you, you.

"I can't be there."

"Why not?"

"Because he knows who you are. And by now he should have figured out that I've been helping you. Staying with me now would be suicide." He cringed. "My job is to keep you safe. If I stay near you I wouldn't be doing a good job."

"But why do I have to stay in my house. Wouldn't that be the most obvious place to come looking for me?"

"Yes, it would be the most obvious place to look for you." He said calmly. I almost punched him for sounding so calm when discussing my impending doom. "But the beauty of a home is that you have family. And the ties of family is something so strong nothing could tear it apart. Not even a demon. Your home is the center of your family, a demon cannot cross it. So it's the safest place you could be." Dimitri told me confidently. I wondered how he knew so much. How long did it take him to learn everything he does?

"There's something you've got to know. If there ever comes a time that you see a white dove with its heart pierced you run home, you hear. I don't care if it's the morning and you have to go to school. You ditch school and stay home you got that."

I nodded, unsure if whether to ask him about it or not. I didn't.

Dimitri dropped me off in front of my house but not before he delivered the big blow.

As I stepped away from his car and trudged towards the house the whir of an automatic window reached my ears. I turned around and met Dimitri's stare.

He looked at me shyly, his Adams apple seemed to get stuck in his throat when he swallowed. "Before you go, I want you to know that I really did like you." He said thickly, sucking in a quick breath. My heart beat accelerated. "And don't be offended if you never see me again." My heart stopped. What? "I'll try to help you from afar from now on, but don't expect to ever see my face again." He looked at me pleading. "It's for the best, trust me."

And then he was gone. He didn't give me a chance to answer back. He drove off, leaving me with the shocked expression glued to my face. Did he just leave me, permanently? I couldn't believe it. Dimitri couldn't be gone from my life. The thought was unthinkable. It brought pain to my chest for some unknown reason. Surely I would go to school tomorrow and see him. He would sit in the chair next to mine and it would be like this never happened. He might even crack several sexual jokes at my expense for believing him.

I could imagine what he would say. Well Rose it seems like you just can't get enough of me. Are you so worried that I won't come back to give you your regular poundings. Where do you want it anyways on the desk or on the chair? Yes that would be something he would say tomorrow. Tomorrow.

But when tomorrow came I found myself sitting next to an empty seat in class. I didn't want to think much of it. I mean Dimitri was allowed to miss a day. He was probably busy doing whatever demon hunters do. I would see him again; he might even surprise me after school.

The squeal the chair legs made against the floor made me aware of the person next to me. I knew who it was without having to turn around. I could sense him. His presence caused a stirring in the pit of my stomach—and not in a good way. It was more of the feeling you get before you throw up. Eddie Castile was sitting next to me. His move was calculated, I could see the wheels turning in his eyes.

He turned his whole torso towards me, looking at me with what can only be described as the product of the new Eddie. It was a look so cold penguins wouldn't even be able to survive it. "Looking lonely over here Rose, thought you might need the company of a man since yours seems to be missing."

My fingers clenched hard, nearly crushing my pencil. "I don't know who you're talking about." I gritted out. "I don't have a man. As for Dimitri, I hardly know him." That was technically true. I didn't know his past, where he went to school before this, where he lived, who his step parents are. How many family members he had? Nothing, I hardly knew anything about the boy who knew everything about me. He knew too much and I knew too little.

"Now, Rose, we know that's not true. Dimitri has you around his pretty little finger from what I heard. Apparently he says go, and you go. A snap of his fingers and you're there beside him. I got to say Rose, I'm disappointed. I always pledged you as being independent, guess I was wrong." He sneered at me. His muddy brown eyes were challenging me. His words were intended to get a rise out of me, but I wasn't having it.

"Eddie get your head out of your ass." I whispered quickly, glancing towards Mr. Nagy to make sure he doesn't catch us talking. "I don't go anywhere with Dimitri because I don't know him. I have more important things to do than go out with a stranger and pray they don't kill me." I made my voice as bland an emotionless as possible.

He tapped his finger against his forehead. "I'm not stupid, Rose. You and Dimitri somehow both disappear after first period for two straight days in a row. That's a little suspicious, don't you think." He grinned at me showing his yellowed teeth. "What did he do, give it to you good in his car. Because I know Dimitri and a quick fuck in the car is his usual style. Of course that's right before he drives off with their panties. Or wait did he give you his special you suck I relax trick."

"What the hell are you talking about, creep?" Talking to Eddie was beyond disturbing. I could see the amusement in his eyes, the mocking smile his thin lips transform to.

He laughed. "He didn't give you any of those, did he? What, he didn't find you good enough for a good fuck. I mean, you're no Mia but I would still give it to you good."

My cool façade shattered. My brain overheated and my whole body boiled to the point of eruption. How dare that disgusting thing mention my sister's name. I leaned in close to him, closer than I would normally have let myself and let my anger talk. "I will beat the living snot out of you if you ever say my sister's name again." I hissed. "You're not allowed to even think her name, do you get that."

He smiled, thrilled. I had given him the rise he wanted. He had baited me and I fell for it. "Don't worry, Mia's not the one I want." He winked. We both glanced back to look at Mia. Her head was bowed down looking intently at her paper. Her hair hanged around her, framing her face. She was doing her work, I realized. Her two friends were beside her chatting away with the group of guys in the table beside them. Their heads were butted together and they were all giggling quietly. And meanwhile my sister was ignoring them, choosing to do her work instead. It was the first time I had ever seen her choose school work instead of socializing. Maybe she really was changing for the better.

"Would you look at that, Mia's doing her work." Eddie's voice had an edge to it that I didn't like. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way. "Wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to her?" That's why.

My head snapped towards Eddie. I didn't have to say anything for him to get the warning. My face said it all. It spelled violence with a promise.

No one else seemed to notice the exchange Eddie and I shared. Maybe because we were just two nobodies that no one cared about. It was different when I was talking to Dimitri, he was a somebody.

I didn't do any work. The whole class period I kept replaying Eddie's words over and over._ It would be a shame if anything happened to her._ What did he mean by that? What was he planning to do? Whatever it was I couldn't let it happen. I wouldn't let it happen.

Eddie managed to fan the flames of my anger when he started mouthing Mia's name to spite me. I hated him. I kept picturing different ways he could get the crap beaten out of him. Enjoying the image of Eddie lying in a pool of his own blood a little too much.

I didn't know what I was going to do about Eddie yet, especially since I had to keep Dimitri's orders and stay at home_. _But I would need to find something, soon.

I went straight for Mia after class. She was putting her folder away when I got to her seat. She looked up, surprised to see me. I didn't visit the back of the classroom often—try never.

"Rose, to what do I owe this visit?" She asked mockingly.

"Can't a girl come talk to her sister without getting questioned?"

"A girl can. You, not so much. So what do you need?" She inspected her nails, a tiny frown settling on her face when she realized a nail was chipped.

"Nothing, I just want to talk a little while I walk you to class." So that you won't be alone while creepy Eddie's on the loose. I thought.

She stood up and slung her book bag on her slender shoulder. Mussing her hair over with her finger tips, she looked at me suspiciously.

"You never want to just talk." Her eyes brightened. "But as long as I talk and you listen, I don't really care what your ulterior motive is." She looked positively cheery. It was as if the whole world had just shitted chocolate glazed donuts in Mia's eyes.

We walked—well mostly I walked, Mia skipped—out of the classroom. My class was in the opposite way of Mia's but I didn't want to separate from her. I wouldn't move till I knew she was safely in her class. I would even walk her to her seat as a safety precaution. I couldn't do any more than that, unless I could somehow convince the teacher to let me stay. But I couldn't very much be doing that for every one of her classes.

Mia kept up a strong current of chatter. Even when she was waved at by several of her friends in the hallways, she didn't stop. She gave them all friendly nods and continued talking. I caught the bewildered looks they gave each other when they spotted her next to me. It was no secret that I was Mia's sister. But everyone seemed to ignore that fact because of our rare contact. It was also my belief that several people forgot that Mia and I were related.

Mia fluttered her hands widely trying to get me to picture the monstrosity of her friend Camille's dress. "It looked like she was growing feathers. And her hair, don't get me started on it. She put like the whole bottle of gel on it, just dumped it on her hair. There were still huge clumps of it in different spots, it wasn't even smoothed out." She went on to talk about each fashion mistake her friends had committed. And even though most of it was boring, it was kind of funny hearing what the popular were judged about.

We were a couple doors down from her classroom, now. The round clock that hung in the hallway showed that there were only two minutes left till the bell. Mia noticed too. She stopped mid sentence and turned to look at me. "Rose, you're going to be late. Go now so you could make it." She said, pushing me away. I didn't budge.

She gave me a haughty look before walking into her classroom. I didn't move from my spot till she went in.

She didn't like that I was acting careless in school. If only she knew that I wasn't acting careless. I was acting careful. I was taking extra precaution when it came to Mia.

I turned around and went back towards my classroom. I took hurried steps, hearing each tick of the clock louder—more pronounce—than the next.

The hallway seemed to grow longer—never ending. It looked like someone had stretched it out like play doe.

I walked through, feeling smaller and smaller as I went on. I felt drugged. All the blood seemed to rush to my face until it was pounding in every vessel. I couldn't breathe. I clutched at my throat, I was suffocating.

_What the hell is this? _I thought desperately.

Two things happened at once. Eddie was standing off to my right, leaning casually against the lockers. His eyes were locked on me. A lazy smirk spread across his face.

But, of more importance, a familiar hand grasped my shoulder. His hand was a tie to this world; it helped my head become level. I clung to it, swimming out of the dizzying prison my mind had entered.

From the corner of my eye I saw Eddie leave his spot by the lockers. I didn't think it was a coincidence that my mind suddenly became level when Eddie left.

The hand gripped my shoulder tighter, reminding me that he was still here. I turned around and found the eyes of the hand's owner staring down at me. His eyes were always a comfort to me. I knew that no matter what happened his eyes would always stay their shade. His eyes helped me deal with all of my problems because even though the whole world changed I always knew I would have one constant in my life. Christian and his blue eyes.

"Why aren't you in class yet?" Christian's brow furrowed in confusion. "Did you forget something?"

"No I was just…" I took a glance back in the direction Eddie had gone. He had disappeared. "I was just going to class. My first period let us out late." I shrugged.

Christian stared darkly in the direction Eddie had gone. "Yes, I'm sure your class let you out late." He tightened his grip around my shoulder. "Especially since your first period class is in the other side of the hallway. Seems like you covered quite an unnecessary distant for someone who was let out late. But I'm sure you have a positively brilliant excuse as to why that is." He finished calmly. Nothing in his voice or even in his face would have given away his anger. The only reason I noticed was because his hand was, at this point, cutting the circulation of blood on my shoulder.

I slapped his hand away from me, the sound of flesh against flesh ricocheted through the hallway. I looked into his eyes and the reflection of my face caught me by surprise. I was mad. More than mad, I was furious.

The bell rang but it sounded so far way. In that moment the bell was part of a different universe, living so distant from the universe Christian and I were in.

"You have no right to question me." I hissed.

"Really, I don't." He said sarcastically. "Because I think that I do have a right to question you. Why are you lying to me? And better yet, where have you been these past two days. You just send me one text, one text. And that's supposed to appease me. Do you know how worried I was?"

I scowled at him. "I might have kept secrets from you, but don't think you can act indignant about it when you yourself have been keeping secrets from me. You act all self-righteous when the truth is we're both at fault. So don't try to focus this on only me." My voice was no louder than a whisper, but the weight of my words and my tone held nothing light.

He searched my face, trying to find something in it. What was it? What was he looking for?

When he finally stopped he looked troubled. "You've been through a lot these last few days haven't you." He said it more like a statement than a question, but I still answered with a quick yes. "I thought so." He nodded to himself, his face turned pensive.

I looked around the empty hallway. Every classroom had their door shut, so there were no eaves dropping ears about.

How long would it take for an administrator to come walking down the hallways? I wasn't sure. But they wouldn't be too happy seeing two students out in the hallway, seemingly ditching.

I leaned in closer to him, our foreheads almost touching. "Christian what is it?" No matter how mad I was at him, how mad I wanted to be at him, I knew that I couldn't hold it for long. I slowly felt my anger slip away.

Those six years of friendship formed a bond between us. A bond I would never be able to tear, a bond that caused me to feel this huge amount of trust towards Christian. It didn't matter if he purposely kept the book away from me. I would always trust him. Even when I didn't trust him I trusted him.

Christian's eyes squeezed shut, so that he looked like he was having a migraine. "I've totally fucked this up." He groaned. "I should have never tried to call her. She's dead, that should have been the end. I should have left her alone." He muttered to himself. He brought his fists against his forehead and began to beat against it, hard enough that I feared he would give himself a concussion. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He chanted,

I managed to catch his fist in my hands, struggling to keep them away from his forehead. "Stop! Christian, stop it!"

And then suddenly he went still, so still that it looked impossible for any human to sustain it for any length of time. He stayed frozen for several seconds. His hands were locked with mine in a tight grip I couldn't break.

He pulled his hands away from mine when he seemed to regain life, his lips parted, uttering something for only me to hear. But when his quiet voice reached me, my face

drained of blood. "Take me to Lissa."

* * *

**I know a lot of you guys guessed that this was what Dimitri was going to do. But don't blame him too much, it was for Rose's best interest. As for Christian, we'll have to see what him and Lissa are up too in the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11 Deal

I was out of it for a while. The only coherent word in my mind was Lissa. Why Lissa? Why does he need to be taken to her?

A snapping sound called my attention, and I noticed for the first time in what felt like forever, fingers in front of my vision. It took me a second to connect the fingers with the snapping sound, apparently Christian, was trying to get me out of my head.

I focused on Christian and he seemed to notice that I was actually seeing him this time.

"Oh thank goodness. I thought you were never going to come to." He exhaled, relieved.

I didn't have time to get caught up in Christian's concern for me. I needed answers and he was going to give them to me.

My eyes tightened, "Why do you need to be taken to_ her_?"

He put his hands up in a calm down jester, but I didn't want to. He had already kept too much from me, if he wanted my patience he would have to earn it.

"Christian." I warned.

He looked at me cautiously. "Don't be mad." He said; which instantly made me worry. What could Christian do to make me mad? " Lissa's helping me with my underworld search. Apparently she's as into this whole supernatural thing as I am." He finished sheepishly.

"Lissa, Barbie doll Lissa, is into demons and the underworld?" I said disbelievingly. It just didn't seem plausible. In what universe does Lissa have something in common with Christian.

"Yes, she does. She actually approached me the day before yesterday. Told me if I know what the Rora is, and then the conversation just took off after that."

"Let me get this straight. She approached you." I said carefully. He nodded. "And you're sure we're still talking about the Lissa that goes to our school."

"Yes, Rose, girls actually approach me." He looked annoyed. "I'm not such a loser that I can't attract girls."

"Sorry." I said, quietly.

I mean Christian did look a little scary, but he actually wasn't bad looking. His hair was a messy black, but it went with him. His features were angular and straight, the jaw line hard. He was actually pretty cute. Now if he would just stop dressing in that ridiculously long black coat and didn't button each button from his Adam's apple to his ankle, girl's would actually be all over him.

"It's alright, I guess. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Ro." He smiled, a real smile, one that warmed up his whole face. But there was something deep in his eyes that looked off.

I still wasn't buying the whole Lissa supernatural thing but I let it drop. There were more pressing matters. "Are you going to tell me the rest of your secrets?" I asked. The secret with Lissa was one, but there were so many others he was hiding. I feared I already knew the answer.

"I can't. Not now. I need to fix my fuck up first. It wouldn't be fair if I brought you into this now."

"Christian, stop this. If something's going on just tell me. Maybe I can help."

"I can't tell you."

"But you could tell Lissa." I replied angrily.

"She's different from you." He covered his mouth quickly with his hands but it was too late. The words were already out. "Rose." He looked at me pleadingly. "That's not—"

"I've heard enough." I said before I walked away. I walked down the empty hallway. Going to class was the last thing on my mind. I couldn't go, not in the eve of what just happened.

Christian, my best friend in the world, had done many things. But he had never trusted anyone more than he did me. Who would he trust anyways? We were to lone creeps. We had no one but ourselves. Was that over now? Had we broken up—friend wise.

"Rose, that's not what I meant!" I heard Christian call from behind me. But I didn't listen,I didn't want to hear anymore. I needed to be alone. He seemed to get that because he stopped following me. He let me go off on my own.

I didn't know where to go. I just knew I had to get out of here. I walked to the end of the hallway and went out the big double doors. It felt strange, ditching by myself. I had only ever ditched with Dimitri. It was strange knowing that just yesterday I went out these same doors with him. But yesterday I had Dimitri's car, today I would have to rely on my own two feet.

I walked through the parking lot, before I reached the gates that let me exit out into the sidewalk. I figured I would walk my anger out.

The streets were empty, save for a few passing cars, and the sidewalk was clear of pedestrians. Big Pine trees aligned the sidewalk. The morning air was crisp and cool; the heat of the day still a few hours away.

I walked for too many blocks just thinking. Christian and Lissa. Lissa and Christian. Whichever way I said it, it sounded wrong. In this world Christian and Lissa don't become friends. Maybe in a different world but in ours they're supposed to never talk.

Lissa, the girl was perfection, second only to my sister. How could Christian do that, how could he choose her—the girl that everyone envied—over his best friend. I wanted to scream, to yell. Lissa had everything, beauty, money, popularity, and now she had my best friend. Christian who was the only person who stuck by me when no one else did, and now he was gone, trading me in for someone better. What I couldn't understand was why, why would she be risking her social status by making friends with Christian. Nobody except for me wanted to be friends with Christian. What was Lissa playing at? Was she aiming to change my perfect sweet friend into something unrecognizable? Or was she really into demons and hell?

I tried to rule out the former but I couldn't. Lissa and hell just don't mix.

I stopped walking and took a deep breath, hoping it would calm me down. I didn't need all this melodrama in my life. It was only when I looked around that I realized I was in the same spot Dimitri had picked me up in when I first got into his car. It seemed so long ago. Back then I still thought demons were fake. Christian and I were best friend, and my life sort of made sense. Now, none of those things were true.

The sun was climbing quickly in the sky. I didn't know if time was passing too fast or too slow. The sky was a deep blue, and there was hardly a cloud in it. It looked clean, pure, untouched. I stared at it for a long time until a shadow blocked my vision.

"Rose, what the hell do you think you're doing?" I almost smiled. I'd heard that a lot lately.

"Looking up at the sky."

"I can see that. Why exactly are you doing that when you should be in class."

"I don't know." I stated honestly. "I guess I just needed to get out of there. Besides, what are you doing out here, Mia."

Mia placed her hands on her hips and looked over at me, annoyed. "What do you think I'm doing. I came here because my little sister thinks its ok for her to ditch. Now look here, I was lenient the last two days. I looked the other way because you had never ditched before in your life. But three times in a row is just pushing it."

I looked up, surprised. "You knew about yesterday."

She flipped her hair back. "Of course I knew. You always sit in that weird little table at the back of the cafeteria, and then all of a sudden it's empty. Come on, I'm not stupid." She scoffed.

"Wow, I guess not."

"Don't act so surprised, now."

"Force of habit." I shrugged. Mia rolled her eyes.

"So you going to tell me why you really out here."

"Nope."

"I thought so." She looked over at the empty street before turning her head back towards me. "Let's go back to school."

"Fine." I huffed. "My five seconds of peace are over anyways."

"I wonder why that is." She gave me a sidelong glance and giggled evilly.

I let her lead me back to school. The trip back seemed a lot shorter. As soon as we reached the school Mia quietly tiptoed to the red front doors before peaking her head in.

"Is there anyone there." I whispered from behind Mia.

"Shhh." She said, slapping a hand on my mouth. It smelled like her usual strawberry mango lotion.

"The coast is clear. Let's go." She removed her hand from my mouth, and grabbed my hand instead, pulling me into school.

"What period are we on?" I asked. We were walking quickly through the hallway, passing closed classrooms. I wasn't sure which class I had to go too, yet."

"It's ten thirty, so I say halfway through third period." _Damn_. Mia seemed determined to get me in class. It was going to be embarrassing, having to walk in halfway through class. As if I didn't get enough weird looks already.

"Do I really have to go in class now? Can't I just go when fourth period starts?"

She snorted. "No. It's your own fault for ditching. Now thanks to you, I have to go to my class late. And if I have to, so do you."

I gave her a pleading look, hoping to get some sympathy. It didn't work.

Ten minutes later, I found myself the center of attention.

I knocked on the door of my physics teacher, hearing her voice vibrate through the door before it abruptly stopped when she heard my knock. The door opened and I caught my teacher's annoyed glance when she realized it was an extremely late student. I felt the stares of all my classmates as I walked in.

I made my way to my seat. The table I sat on was a long rectangular one, big enough to fit boys would sit on either side of me. As soon as I sat down between them, I felt them edge away from me, sitting as far as the limited space allowed them to. I took out the materials from my backpack and began to take down notes, for once enjoying the space the boys were giving me.

I took notes for the remainder of class, scribbling furiously on my paper to make up for being late. The two boys remained tense beside me, but I only noticed it as a side thought. The majority of my mind wasn't even concentrated on the notes. I was writing on autopilot.

No, what was going through my mind was something I should have avoided completely. What should be going through my mind is Christian and the mystery that linked him with Lissa. Only it wasn't. My mind was on something else, seemingly unimportant, yet completely important.

My mind was on Dimitri. Where could he be? I thought. Was he really gone? Impossible, he couldn't just leave. He was still in high school. He couldn't make the decision to just get up and go. His legal guardians would have to make that decision. Still something gnawed at my chest, making me question if he could leave.

The class ended at 11:15. After that class was lunch. My class was close enough to the cafeteria that I ended up being one of the first people there. The line was empty so I quickly got a tray and filled it up with the first plate of food I saw. Lasagna, it didn't look very appetizing. It looked crusty and hard as if it was still frozen, even the cheese was hard. It wasn't melted.

The cafeteria was the same as always—clustered with tables and chairs—but now it felt different. My same table was in the back. It was away from all the others, my little sanctuary in the pits of hell. But I wasn't sure if I was allowed to sit there anymore. What if Christian brings Lissa there? Worse yet, what if Christian doesn't show up. Leaves me for the likes of her.

I walked to the table, clutching my tray for support. I knew if Christian showed up I would have to confront him. This meeting of ours was long overdue. I knew that what we had to discuss could break our friendship. Christian needed to tell me exactly what he was keeping from me. He needed to explain why he lied to me and finally he needed to tell me why he kept the book from me.

I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like what he told me. Christian always kept things from me for a good reason. The only logical reason for me to think why Christian kept something from me was because he knew I wouldn't approve.

Christian always kept me informed about everything he did. Never did I see any dishonesty.

Until…. of course, until that day outside the school. It felt like it happened a hundred years ago, but it was that day that Dimitri first talked to me. Right before I went to class I showed Christian the passage I found. And his eyes, they held something. A spark, a longing for this ritual; I remember his look frightened me. That was the first time I ever felt any distrust towards Christian. He lied to me after that, turned all secretive when I thought the ritual was barbaric.

Yes, I realized, that was when everything changed. We changed after that. We weren't Christian and Rose after that day. We were two solitaires, no longer whole.

I waited the whole hour of lunch on the table. I watched the cafeteria slowly get crowded by students, all rowdy and bunched up. I saw a group of girls in their tight skirts waving over to the football player's. I saw the baseball players wearing there blue and white uniforms. Apparently they had a game today (I was so out of touch with this school). Girls with tight skinny jeans were standing beside there table instead of sitting down (I imagine their pants were so tight that any sitting motion was uncomfortable). I even saw Mia talking with all her friends in the highly dubbed "cool" table. She was smiling and laughing along with a joke one of the guys lingering by her had told. The joker inched closer to her, his platinum blond hair falling into his eyes when he leaned over and whispered in Mia's ear. I watched her laugh again, a carefree laugh that echoed throughout the room. Mia could fit in anywhere.

I watched everyone socialize with their friends, talk to their group of people while I waited on my empty table, and ate my lousy lasagna. I mostly pushed it around with my fork, it tasted awful. Christian never came. My lasagna was cold because I spent most of my time pushing it around.

I couldn't leave fast enough when lunch ended. I went to my fifth period class. I had this class with Lissa, but she wasn't there. She never arrived. She was absent but I couldn't help but wonder, was she with Christian? It was strange that they were both suddenly absent.

I didn't waste my time on my façade of taking notes. I was too over whelmed to even go on auto pilot. The feeling of wanting to get out and run crept up again. I closed my fingers tightly against the edge of the table. Hoping it would keep me grounded, keep me from leaving.

When the day finished I didn't bother waiting the full fifteen minutes. I barged into the car using the spare key my mother had given me a year ago. I hardly used it but I figured today was the exception. I wanted to drive away and leave this horrible place behind, but I couldn't. Mia would worry if she saw the car gone. So I waited. I threw my backpack, carelessly, in the back seat and settled in the passenger side. My eyes were clenched shut, and I exhaled harshly through my nostrils. Today was hellish, but thank god it was Friday.

I ran my fingers against the window, tapped them against the radio, counted down who knows how many minutes. It's funny, when you want time to go faster it goes slower, and when you want it to go slower it goes faster. I never understood why that was; it was as if time itself chose to make you intentionally miserable.

Mia finally came into the car. She took immediate notice of my bad mood when she settled in her seat.

"What is it?" Mia asked.

I didn't know how to tell her that it was everything. Everything was wrong. So I just shrugged my shoulders.

Mia scowled. "It's about Christian, isn't it?" She didn't wait for me to answer. She immediately plunged into her next assessment. "Of course it's Christian, why else would you be sitting by yourself. I knew him spending time with Lissa was a bad sign."

"I think Christian chose Lissa over me." I confessed. I don't know why I did. My insecurity just came flying out of my mouth.

"He what? That bimbo." Mia scrunched up her face in disgust. "I always knew that boy had bad taste. Ever since I saw him in that fashion crime of a coat, I knew. He always did look like someone who trades fine wine for a cheap substitute." She winked. I was pretty sure she was calling me the fine wine.

"Thanks." I smiled. "I needed an ego boost."

"Don't expect me to be giving you those often. I limit myself to one per month. I think you already filled up my quota for two months." She joked before her face became serious. "Back to the Christian problem. I know you're not going to like this." Mia said hesitantly, "but I think you should talk to Christian."

I looked over at her outraged. There was no way I was could talk to him after he ditched me in lunch. Plus, I was pretty sure Christian would need to be hospitalized if I saw him now.

"Look, just listen to me." Mia said quickly."Sooner or later you're going to have to talk to him. Better to catch him now and get it over with."

I was still skeptical but let Mia drive me over to Christian's house.

Christian was sure to be at home by now. His mother picked him up sharply at 2:50 when we were all released.

Christian's house was a fifteen minute drive away from school. I was feeling nervous. This was going to be the first time I really planned on confronting Christian—not counting the time when we were thirteen and he ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That confrontation consisted of mostly me lecturing him about moral conduct and thou shall not steal.

His house looked imposing when we got there. The faded peach color of the house looked unwelcoming. The wooden porch looked cracked, the misuse suddenly more visible in daylight. I didn't want to go in. I had to be nudged out by Mia, and even then it took me a good five minutes to move away from the car.

My strides were awkward as I followed the narrow path that lead to the porch. I had been to this house a million times, I reminded myself. There's no need to feel nervous.

I stepped onto the porch and held my hand out to knock on the large green door when I heard Christian's voice from inside. His voice was raised, he appeared to be discussing something, or maybe arguing with someone. The other voice was muffled; I couldn't make out who he was talking to.

I knew it was bad, but I couldn't help it. Instead of knocking on the door I inched to the window beside the door. There was always a parting in the curtain which allowed you to see inside the house. I learned that when I was twelve and was too embarrassed to go inside. The first time I came alone I peaked in through the window and found a tiny parting in the curtain. Mrs. Ozera apparently never touched this curtain because the parting was the same as it was four years ago.

I could barely make out Christiant's figure. He was hunched over, with his head on his knees. His hair was a wilder mess than usual, as if he had been tugging on it forcefully. His shoulders sagged, and there appeared to be tension in his pathetic stance.

This time when Christian spoke, the sound of his voice sounded almost pleading. I didn't get much of what he was saying but I got the gist that he was trying to reason with the person.

My mind automatically went to Lissa. It made me mad to think that it could be Lissa in there. That my Christian could be in there pleading to Lissa, possibly groveling at her feet.

Christian was facing towards the window, but his face was still bowed down so that I couldn't see it. But I saw something move quickly next to him. It was a person, only I still couldn't see them. The parting in the curtain only allowed me to see an outline of an arm. I knew at once that it wasn't Lissa, this arm was too masculine. Lissa's arm was delicate and slender.

_Move closer to the window. Just inch a little more to your left so I can see who you are, _I thought.

I wondered if Mia was watching me. She said she was going to wait for me in the car. She is sure to be giving me weird glances if she's seeing me crouched by Christian's window.

Finally the person took a step closer to Christian—which also happened to put him in my line of view—and my breathing stopped. I became completely frozen.

_No, no, no. _It can't, it wasn't. Only it was. Eddie, it was Eddie.

I watched as Eddie extended his arm out to Christian, and when Christian looked up, I finally saw his face. It looked resigned. Christian reached up, and I looked in horror as he shook hands with Eddie. Only it wasn't merely shaking hands, it was like looking at two business men agreeing to a deal. The handshake was their promise to keep their end of the bargain.

I pushed myself off of the window, and ran back to the car. I fought with my rage the whole way there. I pictured myself barging in and demanding to know what the hell there deal was. But at the same time I couldn't. The image of Christian and Eddie together was too much.

Christian, damn him. He was screwing me over this whole time. He befriended me, and made me trust him to the point that even when everything pointed against him, I still believed him. And now, with the real truth hanging over me, Christian might as well have pissed on my face.

I slammed the door of the car when I went in. Mia looked at me startled, but the look on my face kept her quiet. We drove home in silence.

As soon as we got home I ran up to my room and flung myself on my bed. I hadn't cried in years, but with my face buried into my pillow, the tears came pouring out. Big droplets of sloppy tears came out of my eyes. Snot assembled in my nose. I sobbed chokingly, but managed to keep it low enough for no one in the house to hear.

I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew my room was in darkness. My face felt swollen. I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot red, and I could see the trail my now dry tears left behind. I was a mess.

I wanted to go lie back down in my bed, and maybe sleep for a thousand years, but I didn't let myself. I knew what I had to do.

Instead of laying with misery, I took out the battered copy of The Seer's Handbook, and began to practice my seeing abilities.

I didn't miss the fact that these past two days I haven't been dreaming of Natalie. I should be relieved, only I wasn't. Those dreams were my only connection to my seeing abilities. Without them I was just some weird kid who didn't even have the excuse of being a seer to justify her weirdness. Plus Natalie needed me. She might be in some mortuary right now, rotting with the rest of the bodies in there, but her spirit was in unrest. I could feel her every time I had a dream about her death. The raw pain I felt made it all so real. It made me know that it was real.

I lighted and incense candle I kept in my room and placed it beside the book so I could see the letters. I decided to keep the lights off. Since my dreams only came at night, I thought the dark would help me get into a vision. I sat cross legged on my carpeted floor and did the suggestion it indicates in the book. The one that said was to help the seer enter a calm stage. It was more of a yoga breathing exercise than anything but I still did it. I took a deep breath for six seconds and held it in for another three. I exhaled it all through my mouth. I repeated the action over and over again. Eventually closing my eyes and just felt the calm enter my body. The scent of my lilac candle helped me further enter my calm stage. It made me feel like I was surrounded by nature. It felt like I was back in the woods with Dimitri next to me. I had tried so hard to concentrate then, to empty my mind of everything and let the feeling of calm sweep through. Only I couldn't, having Dimitri next to me was very distracting.

This time I let it all go. I let everything get out of my mind. My sadness, my remorse, my anger. It all flew out of me. It felt like tiny strips of paper had suddenly separated from my body until all that was left of me was an empty void. A sudden tingly sensation overtook me. It started from the tips of my toes, but it slowly rose throughout my body, till I couldn't feel anything but an extreme sense of peace. I felt wonderful, like I was flying. I could actually see the crystal blue sky, until it started to darken. It turned a color blacker than coal, I couldn't see anything anymore. It was a darkness so thick it seemed to be suffocating me. And then suddenly a voice rang through my ears. It sounded like Mia's only it was different. I had never heard Mia sound like this. There was a fear laced so thick in her voice as she called my name. "Rose!" She called. No not just called, begged. She was crying for help. Her voice died down as a new one appeared. This one was of a man laughing. It took me only a second to realize that it was Eddie's voice.

I tore open my eyes and found myself back in my room. The light from the candle was still shinning, but everything else was darkened. I suddenly didn't want the room to be so dark. I got up and went to the light switch and flicked it on.

My room flooded with light. And it was only then that I realized I was shaking. Goosebumps had settled all over my skin.

What the hell was that? A vision? I didn't see anything, so what do you call that, a hearing. I tried to joke, it wasn't working. I was panicking. One second I was standing erect next to the light switch, and the next my head bowed down towards the floor and I started dry heaving. Nothing came out, but I was steel heaving and gagging. Saliva drooped down my chin before I lifted myself upright again.

"Snap out of it!" I yelled to myself. I wasn't helping anyone by getting sick. And I most definitely was not helping Mia by drooling. I needed to save her. Eddie's words suddenly appeared in my head.

_Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to her, _he said. Why, why would he say that? What was he planning on doing? Whatever it was, I had to stop him. Because he was planning on doing it soon, I could feel it.

I inched out of my room and headed across the hall to Mia's. It was later than I thought, the whole house was in darkness, everyone had already gone to sleep. I gently opened the door to her room, hoping that the door didn't creak, and poked my head in. Mia was sleeping on her bed. Her hair was splayed wildly across her pillows. She wore a peaceful smile on her face which to me made her look more beautiful than ever.

This is how I always wanted to see her, with a peaceful smile on her face. I wouldn't let anyone, not even Eddie take it away. With one last glance at my sleeping sister I closed the door and tiptoed back to my room.

I took off my cloths—sleeping in jeans wasn't the most comfortable thing to do—and slipped on my cotton pants. I needed to sleep, I felt exhausted. I had already slept for a couple of hours that day, but now it felt like nowhere near enough. I was completely whiped out. As soon as my head touched my pillow I was out.

And that was when it started. The floodgates opened and suddenly my dreams turned into a frenzy of nightmares going from Natalie's murder to the murder of so many other people I didn't even know.

The scenery would change. At one point I was in this room with grimy brick walls and no windows. I was with a woman who was no older than twenty. I didn't know who she was but I felt drawn to her. Her pale blue eyes were frightened, I wanted to comfort her but she ran away from me. No, not away from me, but away from someone else. She was running towards the door when a man blocked her path and grabbed her forcefully by the arms. I didn't have time to look away when he grabbed her slender neck and twisted it.

The brick walls dematerialized in front of me and were replaced by soft purple ones. I was in a little girl's bedroom, her bed was filled with unicorn teddy bears and she had a big castle play set next to her bed. I watched as a tall woman with strawberry blond hair entered the bedroom.

"Samantha." The woman called. "Where are you Samantha?" The woman searched around the room before her piercing gaze settled on the bed. She crouched down next to it and reached underneath. I watched as she pulled out a screaming little girl from underneath the bed. The little girl was precious, she had wild curly blond hair, and plump pink cheeks. Her whole face turned beet red as she continued to yell.

"Now, now, Samantha." The woman admonished. "That's no way to act in front of a guest." The woman smiled gleefully at Samantha. "Now, I really hate to do this." She said, though not sounding at all sincere. "But I just have to. You see you're going to grow up and be a seer, and I just can't have that now, can I."

"Let me go." Samantha cried, as the woman tightened her grip on her.

"Now Samantha, I just told you I can't do that. You are going to be pretty dangerous to me when your older, so it's better we settle this now before we get into that mess."

I had to look away. I knew what was about to happen. I heard one last scream from Samantha before she became deathly silent. I knew she was dead now.

On and on the dreams came, as soon as one ended the other began. I nearly drove myself crazy watching death after death. They were all younger than twenty. Men, women, children, I watched them all die.

When I woke up the sun was higher in the sky than usual. I noticed my room looked more peaceful when sunlight shined through it. The blue of my walls looked brighter, the room looked more open, welcoming. It was hard to believe how many murders I bore witness to in this very tranquil looking room.

I needed to get out. I stumbled out of my bed and rushed down the stairs. Mia was sitting in the couch watching TV when I passed her. I made a beeline to the kitchen and saw my parents sitting down on the table casually talking to each both looked up when I came in.

My father looked at me sternly. "You didn't by any chance sneak out last night did you?" He asked.

"What?" What kind of question was that?

My mother looked at me apologetically but my dad continued talking. "What do you mean what? Do you realize what time it is?"

I hadn't really thought of it. "No, what time is it."

"It's one pm, Rose. So unless you were asleep for fifteen hours, where did you go?"


	12. Chapter 12 keep your enemies closer

**Hey guys. I hope you noticed that the previous chapter didn't leave you in a cliff hanger. But I'm sad to inform you that this one might. Ok maybe I'm not so sad lol. Let's see what's in store for Rose next. Leave me a review and tell me what you think lovely people. **

"I didn't go anywhere." One pm. Holey crap, how long was I asleep.

"Rose." My dad warned.

"Ibraham." My mother interrupted. "I told you I checked in on her at night, didn't I. She was there in her room."

My dad turned to my mom. "And you're sure she was there the whole time."

"Well, I don't know if she was there the whole time. But when I checked on her she was meditating or something. She didn't even hear me when I called her."

"Yes, you mentioned that." My father turned towards me. "So were you just pretending you couldn't hear your mother, Rose? And what's with this meditation, you haven't done that before. Have you been doing drugs?"

"What? No, I was in my room the whole time. And can I please get something to eat, I'm starving." I hadn't eaten since yesterday during lunch. That was a full twenty four hours ago.

"You wouldn't happen to have the munchies." My dad asked suspiciously.

"Enough! I am not doing drugs okay, Pappy."

My dad was going to say something else but my mom cut him off.

"Here, Rose, why don't I serve you lunch. I made spaghetti." She got up and went to the stove, where a boiling pot of spaghetti sat.

"Yeah, serve her lunch." My dad said from the table. "Since she apparently missed breakfast." He mumbled.

"Ibraham!"

"Sorry." He said, quietly.

"Here you go, Rose." My mother said, passing me the plate of spaghetti.

"Thanks." I sat down in my usual seat, close to my father, but he still refused to speak to me. Instead he busied himself with his own food.

"Pappy." I pouted once he finished his food. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"Don't you do that." He told me. "Don't you play that card with me."

"Pappy, why won't you believe me."

My mother looked in amusement at both of us from the other side of the table, but otherwise said nothing.

My dad turned to look at me, his face was resigned. "Rose, I love you to death. Don't you forget that. It's just that you've always gotten up early. The only one who's ever gotten up this late was Mia. And she only did that when she snuck out."

"Pa, am I Mia." I raised my eyebrows at him. "You think I have invitations to go party it up with people."

"You don't need countless of people to party it up. Frankly, I'm more concerned about a party of two than a party of a hundred." He looked at me meaningfully till I got it. Did my dad just warn me about sex?

"Ibraham!" My mother cut him a look.

"Fine, fine. Apparently I can't talk anymore. The boss is forbidding me." He stood up and kissed me on the forehead. "I'm going to the living room since I'm not wanted in the kitchen." He said playfully to my mom before walking out.

My mother shook her head. "That man is going to be the death of me." Her eyes turned curiously in my direction. "Were you really up in your room all night, Rose?" She asked me timidly.

I exhaled, frustrated. "Yes, mom. I was really up in my room all night."

She looked at me sheepishly. "Sorry, I had to ask, you know. Maternal instincts can't be turned off." She shrugged. "I was worried that you went out. You know, with that girl's murderer still on the loose. But you're a good girl, right, Rose."

I ate the last bit of spaghetti from my plate before I answered. "Yes, mom. I'm still a good girl."

"Good."

I got up and placed my plate on the sink. Taking a quick breath I left the sink and headed toward the door. My mom gave my arm an encouraging squeeze when I passed by her, before I left the kitchen.

I walked through the living room and plopped down next to Mia on the lime green love seat. Mia glanced once in my direction, but otherwise didn't acknowledge my presence as she watched the reality show on TV. I glued my eyes to the TV screen but my mind wasn't on the show. It was elsewhere.

I thought about the murders. They were all seers. Every single one of them were killed by a heartless demon. But where were their guides, I thought.

Weren't the guides supposed to protect them? It didn't seem like they were doing a good job if seers were dying. I thought of Samantha, her sweet baby face so frightened as her life ended. Where the hell was her guide when she died?

I felt the blood boil under my skin. Why the hell were we even issued guides if they weren't doing their jobs? They were useless.

I stood up abruptly, startling Mia, but I didn't pay attention to her. I needed to vent my anger somehow. I needed to scream it out.

I walked away from the couch and ran up the stairs. My parents door was slightly ajar as I passed by it. I managed to see my dad sitting in his recliner reading the newspaper. I only saw him for a second while I passed his room and headed for mine.

Inside, I went to my bedside table and got the silver cell phone. I placed it on top of it. I scrolled through my short list of contacts before I found the one I wanted and dialed.

He would have to pick up, I chanted. He needed to pick up. He was the only person I could ask questions to. The only person who was able to answer them without looking at me like if I was crazy.

When the phone stopped ringing and operator answered. "_The number you are dialing has been disconnected—"_

That was all I heard before I clicked. He really did it. He really left. Dimitri was really gone. But he couldn't. I made a brash decision and quickly changed into some sweat pants and a clean t-shirt. There was only one other person I knew Dimitri talked too. It was the only time I had seen him mildly civilized with a person—other than the time he came over to meet my parents.

I didn't know if she knew anything, but it was worth a shot. After all, Dimitri, did say that he went there often.

Rachel might have seen him, if not today then yesterday. I was going to have to visit her at the diner.

* * *

The diner was fuller than it was the first time I came here with Dimitri. Probably because it was Saturdays, and for some reasons people ate out on Saturdays instead of cooking. As soon as I went inside, I noticed three couples waiting on the cushioned bench which marked the waiting area. I craned my neck, and stood on my tippy toes, looking for Rachel, but to no avail. I couldn't spot her.

I saw many other waitresses, carrying their burden of plates on their arms. Dashing between aisles of tables. But none of them was the red head I was looking for. I walked up to the hostess. It was a woman around my height who looked to be in her late twenties. She had unnatural platinum blond hair that fell below her shoulders.

I made sure to keep my eyes on her podium instead of on her when I approached her.

"Excuse me. Do you know if Rachel is working today?"

"Rachel, she's on her break right now." I couldn't see her face but her voice sounded slightly annoyed.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" I asked timidly.

She exhaled roughly. "She should be coming back soon. Now look, are you going to want a seat or not. I'm not your informant, either I put your name down for a seat, or you get out."

I was almost tempted to lift my face up and glare at her. To see her frightened face would have been worth it at this point. But instead I took a deep breath, and put my name down for a seat.

I sat close to a couple who were so consumed with sucking lip, they didn't even notice me staring at them. And I wasn't staring at them because I got a kick out of seeing them practically do soft porn in public. It was the act of kissing that had me mesmerized. They were so close to each other. Theirs bodies almost intertwined while their lips furiously dominated each other. There was something about the act that seemed so intimate, so private, that I felt guilty for gawking at them.

When they were called to their table, I almost missed them. Well not them, just the act of what they were doing. I almost wanted to ask them what the secret was. How do you get so close to someone, trust them so completely with your body? What have they ever showed you to trust them to that magnitude.

Though it would probably be strange to ask two perfect strangers that. Not to mention they would have found out I was staring at them like some creep.

I tapped my foot against the tile floor and leaned back against the bench. Twenty minutes slowly ticked by until I was called for a table.

A waitress waved me over and I started to follow her, but something stopped me. Right at that moment the sound of a door opening reached my ears. And in came the woman I was waiting for. I stopped right in the middle of the aisle just to stare at her. She still looked beautiful with her long flowing red hair waving down her back. Her creamy skin looked painted on, and her light rosy cheeks gave her whole face color. I had almost forgotten how beautiful she was. That is until she looked towards my direction and her whole face paled.

She stepped forward hesitantly, without taking her eyes off of me. I guess I should have expected this. We didn't exactly end on good terms the first time. I think I really scared her.

"Miss." The waitress who was leading me to the table called from behind me. She beckoned me to keep following her.

"I'm coming." I said automatically.

Instead of taking the steps to my table, I walked towards Rachel. She froze as I got close. I smiled pleasantly, to show her I didn't mean any harm, but it didn't seem to work. She still looked at me like I was hell incarnate.

I stopped when I was right in front of her. I took the fact that she didn't run away from me as a good sign.

"Rachel." I smiled again. "I'm not going to do anything to you. I just wanted to ask you a question. I could do it right here if you want."

"Miss" The other waitress called from behind. "Your table, miss. There are other people waiting to be seated. If you don't sit down soon we'll have to give it to another person."

I waved her off and settled my concentration on Rachel. She flinched. "Can I please ask you one question?"

She slowly nodded her head.

"Excellent." I smiled friendlily. The next words out of my mouth tumbled out in a rush. "Did you happened to see Dimitri these last couple of days?" _Please say yes._

She shook her head no. "Th-the last time I saw him was when he came with you." Rachel replied nervously. Her eyes darted around the diner before they settled back on me. "Except, there was Thursday."

"Thursday?"

"Yes, no wait, yes on Thursday. So two days ago, I saw him walk in at his usual time." She said nervously. "But he wasn't alone. It was strange. The only time I saw him with someone was when he brought you."

I could barely contain my curiosity. "With whom did you see him?"

"It was a guy. He was tall, pale skin; had messy black hair and icy blue eyes." She ticked off.

_Messy black hair, pale._It couldn't be. "Did he happen to have a long black coat that looked like it might have belonged to Dracula?" I asked.

I saw the recognition in her eyes. "Yeah, he did actually."

I couldn't breathe for a second. It took a while for my breath to return. "Do you know what they talked about?" I asked breathlessly.

She shook her head. "No, but it didn't look like a very pleasant meeting. Dimitri looked angry, and he didn't even wait for the food. He stormed out of here, leaving the dark haired guy behind."

"He did." I said, surprised. Dimitri and Christian had an argument. And apparently Dimitri didn't like something Christian was doing. What would cause Dimitri to be angry at Christian? The only reason I could think of was Eddie.

I quickly thanked Rachel and turned away.

I kept thinking, Dimitri was here with Christian. They were here right after I last saw Dimitri. I needed my questions answered now more than ever. But I didn't have anyone to ask them to.

I walked dejectedly out of the diner. I slouched as I walked forward. My whole frame shaking from the sheer force of Dimitri's abandonment.

He said he would teach me. Instead he left me when I needed him the most. What was I going to do about Mia? Her voice in my vision send chills down my spine. She was in danger, and I needed to protect her.

What was I going to do about Eddie? He was going to try to harm Mia, I was sure of it. And what about the demon—who I still don't know much about. How could Dimitri leave me with all these questions roaming in my head? And why did he talk to Christian? They've never talked to each other.

Christian had been talking to an awful lot of people lately. People he's never uttered a word to before.

I quickly got into my car and drove away, leaving the diner behind me.

I stayed in my room the rest of the day. I had my legs crossed in the meditation pose. My eyes were closed and I kept whispering Eddie's name over and over, hoping that would give me a glimpse into what he was planning. It didn't work. All I saw were the back of my eyelids. I saw the red in them slowly fade to darkness, signaling the lowering sun.

Frustrated I jumped up and stretched my muscles. They were stiff from the position I put them in.

I wasn't getting any better at this seeing thing. I couldn't summon them at will like I was supposed to be able to do.

I paced back and forth in my room and rubbed my temple. I was getting a head ache. The only plan that formed in my head was to talk to Christian. But I couldn't. He was working with Eddie. And as hard as it was for me to say it, Christian was my enemy now. I couldn't fraternize with him. But I also couldn't let him know that anything was wrong. I figured I would have to act like nothing was wrong in front of Christian. Any suspicious behavior on my part and Christian could easily tell Eddie.

But how could I fool the person who knew me better than anyone?

I guess I just had to wing it. Do this my way. No plan, just some serious Mia stalking. I would have to inconspicuously act like her shadow from now on. And practice big time with this seeing thing. As well as fool Christian that everything was alright so that Eddie won't know I'm onto him.

No big deal, right. Except that I officially hate my life now.

Sweat stained my body as I awoke in the middle of the night. Another murder streak invaded my dreams.

There were so many demons, and so many seers being killed by them. The demons seemed so powerful, it didn't seem like we seer's had a chance.

I kicked the blankets off of me and jumped out of bed. The room was dark; I suddenly felt uncomfortable being in a dark room alone.

The chills from the recent dream had me running for my door. I needed company. I needed to slip in bed with someone.

I tip toed out of my room and made my way to Mia's room. I climbed in under the covers and felt my fear ease away when I felt her warm body against mine.

When I went back to sleep I didn't dream of demons and murder. Mia was like a balm to me. I fell into a normal dream, one that's fuzzy and you hardly remember what it was about when you wake up. But you knew it was a harmless dream because you didn't have the jitters of a fresh nightmare.

The next week flew by fast. As soon as we went back to school I kept close to Mia and for once she didn't say anything about it. It was like she wanted me around. She even sat next to me in our first period. The first day she did it came as a big shock to everyone. But once the days passed on everyone seemed to accept the fact that Mia had claimed that seat for herself. It wasn't news worthy after that first day. And Mia sitting next to me meant that creepy Eddie couldn't.

But something changed about creepy Eddie. He seemed to have turned back into the old Eddie from before. He wouldn't look our way; he didn't bother Mia and me. He didn't even as much as say a word to us or show any sign of recognition. He just did his work, packed up when the bell rang and left quietly.

Something about that quietness didn't sit well with me. I disliked it more than his creepy attitude. At least when he was talking to me I knew there was something. Now I was completely out of the loop.

My week with Christian was worse. To an outsider everything would seem normal. We sat in our usual table and talked about random things but everything was completely wrong. It was the trust, I realized. The trust was no longer there buzzing between us like electricity. Our conversations were hollow because we were both purposely leaving out important details of our life.

Besides Christian and I think exactly alike. Just like I was playing him for a fool by pretending that everything was alright he was doing the same to me. We were both playing each other. The phrase, keep your friends close and your enemies closer danced in my head. It seemed fit where Christian and I were concerned.

Also weird, Lissa and Christian weren't talking anymore. At least as far as I could see. She sat in her usual table far from ours and didn't glance our way. Same for Christian. I didn't buy it. It was like if they were being too careful to act like if nothing was going on between them.

Christian and I didn't mention Lissa, demons or the book. I think we both noticed that we were avoiding the topics but neither of us said anything.

On Friday Christian reminded me of something I had completely forgotten about. We were eating lunch when he brought it up. I nearly choked on my food and cursed myself for forgetting.

"So everyone's going to the party today, right. I mean everyone but us of course." Christian's lips curved up in a secret smile. It was one we shared whenever a party came because we both knew there was a strict no freaks allowed.

"The party." I said, shocked. How could I forget about the party? Mia kept talking about it nonstop last week. Of course she was going to go. And what was I going to do. Wait at home and pray that Eddie didn't dig his disgusting fingernails into her.

"Yes, Rose, the party. Or did you forget that that's what everyone's been talking about. Aside from Natalie's murder of course." Christian bowed his head slightly to show his respect. The act almost made me smile. You could always count on Christian to be respectful to the dead. Too bad he was a backstabber.

"Oh shit." I knew what I had to do. This party was about to have an unwanted freak in its mist.

It was bad enough that I still couldn't get the visions to come at will. Maybe if I could I would be able to keep Mia safe without having to stalk her, but for now being with her constantly would have to do.

I caught up to Mia after lunch and told her about my plans to go with her to the party.

"Let me see if I heard correctly. You want to come with me to the party."

I nodded.

"You, Rose, want to come with me Mia to a party that most of the school will attend. Do I have that correct?"

"Yes." I exhaled annoyed.

"And why would that be." She asked me skeptically.

"I don't know. Guess I just want to see if the grass is greener on the other side, so to speak."

"So you just want to come to a party to experience it, right."

"Yes."

"Well, why didn't you tell me before? Of course you could come Ro Ro."

I winced.

"And we're going to have so much fun. Now I have a designated driver so bring on the beer pong."

Of course, I've been bumped from freak to designated driver, but I was ok with that. I wasn't planning on drinking. Not when I needed to keep my eye on Mia.

"Oh and guess what. I have the perfect dress you could wear. It was a little big on me so you could totally have it. And I could do your hair and make-up. You're going to look so good, trust me." She smiled showing me her milky white teeth. But nothing about her smile was comforting. I knew she was going to sneak the makeover on me. Some things never change. Only this time I was going to let her. Have to fit in with the cool people somehow.

The rest of the day passed quickly and by the time school was over I was more nervous about the party than ever. For the first time I was going to be alone with the cool people. And I was actually going to try to fit in. Maybe even make small talk. The thought alone was making me nauseous. What were they going to say when I arrived?

Arriving with Mia was sure to grant me an entrance but the scrutiny I would receive was inevitable.

I went inside the car and nearly shook it with my nervous jitters. I couldn't control them.

Mia approached the car and I was ready to tell her that I was ill and not able to go to the party. That was until I saw her.

She came into the car looking nauseous. Her creamy skin held a tint of green. Immediately I was alarmed.

"Mia, what the hell is a matter with you?" I noticed a light shade of sweat covering her forehead.

She clutched the steering wheel tightly but she made no move to turn on the car. "Oh, Rose, it was awful, you should have seen it. It was just lying there dying, all wounded and defenseless." She shook her head, trying to erase the images.

"What? What was dying?" I had never seen Mia so distraught. I was starting to panic.

"The bird, Rose, the bird. It died right in front of me." I knew it was awful but I couldn't help but feel relieved. When she mentioned death I was imagining a person dying in front of Mia. The person clutching on Mia's shirt before giving their last breath. Now, I felt slightly better.

"So, you saw a bird die." I replied more calmly.

"Yes. And it was horrible. My friends and I were just walking out of school when we saw it." Her face held the traces of compassion that were buried deep within her; funny how a bird would be the one to bring them out of hiding.

"You should have seen it Rose, it was this beautiful white something must have pierced it because blood was running down its middle. The beautiful white feathers stained crimson red in less than a minute. And his wings, they gave desperate flaps before they became still. Oh it was just awful, Rose." She sniffled. Real tears glimmering behind her sea blue eyes.

"Are you going to cry?" I squeaked in shock. Mia was very much like me in the sense that neither one of us were criers. Sure there was a temper tantrum here and there but never something that lead to tears.

"I'm not going to cry." Her voice was a bit scratchy. "It was just very sad. And then that bitch Lissa came up and grabbed the bird like if it was nothing."

"Lissa grabbed a bird?" Mia nodded weakly. "A dead bird. " I asked disbelievingly. "Are we talking about the same Lissa, or is there another Lissa I don't know about."

"Unless you know of another blond bimbo, who wears tons of make-up and looks like she's made of wax." Nope, that was the same Lissa, alright.

I broke into a wide grin. "You know what Mia. I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

We turned to look at each other and when hazel met blue we both busted out laughing.

"I guess this means your crying fit is over." I said once we calmed down.

"I wasn't going to cry."

"Sure you weren't." I laughed again, but my mind wandered somewhere else. White dove? Why did that sound familiar?

And suddenly it clicked. Dimitri mentioned it. He said the day I find a white dove pierced through the heart was the day I should fear for my life.

**I know, I know. Dimitri is still MIA. Hmm should I bring him back to the story? And what's up with Lissa? Toon in next time and find out.**


	13. Chpt 13 A perfect night to sneak around

**Sooo sorry it took me such a long time to update. School and work have been killing me, so I haven't had time for anything. But I finally finished by finals. So phew, finally some time. **

**As always leave me a review and tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you lovely people. Thank you to all that are interested in my story, I know some of you were worried that I might have abandoned this story. But don't worry, I am not planning on doing that at all. (End author note lol)**

"You can't go to the party today." My mother told Mia for the upmost time.

Mia slouched dejectedly on the couch and scowled at me. She was angry because I had told mom about the party. I might have also mentioned the fact that there was going to be tons of alcohol. My mother freaked at the thought of uninhibited teenagers when there was a murderer on the loose.

Mom displayed just the reaction I wanted. After the dove incident I couldn't allow Mia to go to the party. It would be too risky. But she would never listen to me. Mom on the other hand, she would have to listen to her.

"And you, Rose." Mom said turning her steely gaze at me, "You were actually planning on going to this party with Mia."

"Yeah, I thought it'd be cool since there wasn't going to be any parents. I wanted to see how wild drunk teens would get." I was laying it on a bit thick but I really wanted to make mom worry. I didn't want mom to concede to Mia when she groveled for permission.

Mia shot me a dark look. I knew she was going to hate me for this, but I was left with no choice.

"You thought it'd be cool to see teens out of their minds drunk?" My mom asked exasperated. "Why would you want to see something like that? They could get hurt. They could end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. That's no place I want you two to be at, got it." She gave us both a hard look before dismissing us to our rooms.

Mia didn't even look at me as we went upstairs. As soon as she got to her room she slammed her door shut. The do not disturb was implied.

I didn't like it. I felt like Mia and I had accomplished so much in our relationship this past week, and now in one swift motion it went back to how it was before. With Mia and I both locked in our rooms, not speaking. It seemed like we were back to our same old routine.

I wish I could tell her that it was for her own good. But I couldn't, unless I wanted her to think I was deranged. I hoped in time she would forgive me for making her miss one of the biggest parties of the year.

I stayed in my room for the next couple of hours trying to think about all the research Christian and I had made throughout the years about catching demons. There was the circle of salt you drew around them to keep them trapped in one spot. Or the ruda leaves dipped in pig's blood that was suppose to disorientate the demon. There was also the virgin's blood. A virgin was a symbol of purity. She willingly spilling her blood would be a great sacrifice, and if any of the blood she sacrificed were to get on a demon it would burn their skin.

I decided it was time to take it out. I went towards my bed and reached underneath it, pulling out the box I never thought I would need. Christian had a box identical to this one under his own bed. He thought it was smart if we had the tools we needed to fight a demon close at hand. In the box he put packets of salt, ruda leaves, jars of pig's blood—I didn't want to know how he got it—and a silver knife. There was also a flask of holy water in the box. We never found anything in our research that proved that holy water burned demons but Christian thought we should keep it in our box, just in case.

I felt safer with all the tools splayed out in front of me; like I actually stood a chance.

I knew Mia needed time alone. She needed her anger to fizzle out, but I couldn't help inching out of my room and heading towards her door. I needed to let her know that I didn't mean to ruin her night on purpose. I wanted her to see, somehow, that it's because I love her so much that I did it.

The sun had recently set outside leaving the hallway in a dark shadow. I switched on the light and stood facing her door. My hand trembled before I knocked. She didn't answer. I was expecting this.

"Mia." I whispered at the door as I knocked again. "Mia I know you're mad at me, but let me in."

She still didn't answer. "Please." I said, giving it one last shot. It didn't work.

Mia's door had a lock, but if you picked it just right with a bobby pin it was able to open. I knew this because I use to do it all the time when I was smaller. I took off one of the bobby pins from my hair and proceeded to pick the lock. I hadn't picked it in years.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips as I found myself kneeled down in front of her door with a bobby pin. It reminded me too much of my childhood.

I heard the little click easily and turned the knob, opening the door carefully. I knew an angry Mia was waiting on the other side of the door and I didn't want to alarm her. Except when I stepped inside, the room was empty.

"Mia." I called out, but it was no use, she was gone.

I walked towards her window and saw a little sliver was left opened. It was enough for someone to be able to stick their fingers in and slide it open. It was exactly what Mia would do if she were sneaking out. She would need and entrance route back to the house without getting caught.

I nearly punched the wall. Mia was out there alone, unprotected, and worst of all a demon was on the prowl tonight. I needed to find her.

All I kept thinking about was that vision; the one where I heard Mia screaming for help. It was coming true, but I had to get to her before it could happen.

I knew she went to the party. I just had to hope she was still there when I got there.

Mia had taken the car. It wasn't parked in the curb anymore. The house party was in the other side of town. There was no way I could get there in time.

I looked around, it was dark already; I didn't trust the darkened streets. My mom and dad should be watching T.V. in their room at this time. Do I dare go ask them for help? And who's to say if they would even take me. My mother would most likely drive to the party herself and leave me behind.

I made a quick decision. If I ran, I would be able to reach the house in an hour, maybe less. That would have to be enough time. It was still early. Mia would still be at the party for a good three more hours.

I had packed everything I had in the box on me, feeling more secure when I felt its weight.

Getting my feet ready I started to run, fast. The pounding of my feet on the cement was the only companion to the night sounds.

I ran for a good minute until a loud rumble interrupted me making me almost trip. A car going at a high velocity roared past me in a frenzy before turning on the driveway in front of me, blocking my path. The brakes screeched when he slammed on them.

I should have been afraid but I couldn't be. I knew that car far too well to fear it. The person emerged from inside, and when I finally saw his face, it was as if this whole time I was drowning and only till now was I able to breathe.

**Well well well, now who can that be? Next update should be in two to three days. I'm trying to make up for making you wait for so long. Anyways thanks for reading, have a wonderful day lovelies. **


	14. Chapter 14 All is revealed

**Sorry this took me a little longer than expected, but here it is. Tell me what you think.**

Dimitri looked at me murderously angry. The hard lines on his face looked harder, as if they were carved by a knife.

I nearly threw myself at him, but his fierce words sobered me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have a death wish?"

I made a quick decision in that moment and pushed myself past him, jumping inside the car without answering his question. We would have time to talk in the car, but right now he was taking me to the party. I had already decided it and I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

It took him a couple seconds to recover but when he got in the car I thought he looked impressed.

"Where to?" He asked, avoiding my stare.

"I want you to take me to Ralph's party."

He gave me a look that said, you're crazy if you think I'm taking you there.

"Please." I begged him. "Please you got to take me. Mia's in that party and if I don't get her back home she's going to get hurt."

"If I don't get YOU back home you're going to get hurt. Didn't you see the warning? It's not safe out there."

"Dimitri." I pleaded.

"No. You can't go. I'll go to the party and get Mia out of there, but I'm dropping your butt home first."

Hot blood raised through my veins and I shot Dimitri a venomous look. "If you take me back home I'll run off again. Trust me, you can't keep me there."

"Rose, please." His voice for the first time sounded so vulnerable. There was something in his eyes that were practically begging me to listen, but I couldn't. I raised my chin an inch showing him my resolve. I wasn't about to let him take me home while Mia was still out there.

"Fine then," he snapped. The look in his eyes changed suddenly into unreadable blank slates, and when he spoke again his voice was cold. "You're going to regret it though."

Dimitri drove fast no longer going his usual slow pace. We got to Ralph's house sooner than I expected. Neither of us spoke throughout the ride. Dimitri went out first and opened the car door for me before I even had a chance to undo my seatbelt.

I stumbled after him and purposely placed myself behind him when he knocked on the door.

Ralph's house was a large white square shaped manner with a cobblestone pathway leading up to the brass door. There were rose bushes on each side of the pathway making it seem elegant. But the loud party music practically shaking the house from within ruined the affect.

When no one answered the door Dimitri opened it and went in, holding it open for me so I could slide in too before shutting the door.

The party was filled with teens from my school chatting with each other. All of them had red plastic cups in their hands, and I had an inkling that it wasn't punch that they were drinking. Ralph's large living room was transformed into a dance floor where couples were grinding all over each other. Some of the moves seemed to belong in a private bedroom than in a crowded dance floor.

Dimitri and I moved through the party quickly, most people seemed too intoxicated to even pay us attention. I wondered why I was so afraid to come to this party to begin with. Now looking into the faces of my classmates I realized how illogical my worries were. They were all too drunk to even realize that the school freak was in their domain. And even the ones who were sober were in their own world, not even sparing us a glance.

The faster Dimitri and I traveled through the party, the more blatantly obvious something was becoming. Mia wasn't here.

Dimitri turned to me, his eyes were guarded, and he kept glancing around the house as if he expected someone to jump out and attack us.

"This isn't good, is it Dimitri?"

"No, it isn't."

"Why?"

"Because if Mia isn't here there is only one other place she could be at. And it's not good."

_Eddie, she's with Eddie. I knew it._

He pulled me away from the party and back towards his car, all the while keeping a constant stream of cuss words. He kept glancing down at the floor as if he was cursing the entire world. He stopped abruptly, making me collide against him.

I almost yelled at him until I saw what brought him to a stop; or better yet who. I looked around Dimitri and saw Christian leaning against Dimitri's car.

"Christian?" The disbelief was evident in my voice. "What are you doing here?"

Never in a million years would I pictured Christian here. It seemed so out of place to see him against Dimitri's car. A look of cool collectiveness on his face. But there was something more. His eyes passed over me, barely sparing me a second glance before he fixed his gaze on Dimitri.

"I know my car is beautiful but could you get your grimy paws off of it and admire it from afar." Dimitri's voice was light but there was something in his eyes which made the challenge evident.

"This car right here?" Christian gave a quick glance towards Dimitri's car. "Not much to look at." He kicked the car door once before stepping away from it and towards us.

Dimitri's lip twitched. "Did you just kick my baby?"

Christian raised his head and looked at Dimitri through slitted eyes. "And what if I did? Are you going to try to lunge at me?" Christian's face turned into a cold smile. It seemed wrong; it didn't belong on Christian's face. He'd never looked at anyone which such a cold calculation before. "But of course you aren't. You wouldn't want Rose to see your wild side."

And there it was. Christian had said my name without one ounce of emotion. Christian had always said my name with warmth; with a smile on his face. He always seemed grateful for being his only friend. I might have believed many things from Christian but this was the last straw. This wasn't my best friend, at least not anymore. Eddie had changed him. My resolve grew brighter than ever. If I ever got my hands on Eddie, I was going to kill him. I would show no mercy for what he did to my best friend. He made the person I trusted the most into something unrecognizable.

I clutched Dimitri's arm reminding him that I was there. "Dimitri lets go. We need to find Mia."

Christian's gaze snapped towards me and for a moment I saw my best friend. "Don't go Rose, not with him. Come with me."

He seemed so sincere, but I found my head shaking no. "Rose please." He sounded desperate. "Please, don't go with him. Come with me."

"No, I can't. He has Mia, Christian. But you already knew that, didn't you."

He looked at me startled. "What?"

"Eddie. He has Mia. Or didn't your precious ally tell you." I couldn't help the sneer that came out. This wasn't my Christian, I kept reminding myself. This was Eddie's Christian.

"Rose it's not what you think. Eddie isn't—"

"Stop." I screamed. "Christian, please get out of our way. We need to find Mia. I need to find Eddie."

"No, you can't." His gaze hardened. "I won't let you. It's Dimitri, Rose, he's evil. Not me, please. I'm your best friend. You and I have always told each other the truth. We have always trusted each other. Trust me now. Don't go with Dimitri. Please, stay here with me."

I wanted to ask him so many things but for some reason only one question came out. "Will you tell me why you and Lissa were talking?" He mentioned we had always told the truth to each other, well he never explained this to me.

He turned his head away from me and I knew his answer. No, he wouldn't say.

"I'm sorry Christian, but I'm leaving with Dimitri to find my sister."

His face crumpled up in pain as if I had wounded him with my words. Something about seeing Christian in pain tugged at my heart strings. He was always closer than a friend to me; he was my brother.

I left with Dimitri, my heart still heavy with grief. I didn't speak while Dimitri drove. It was quiet. I trusted that Dimitri knew where he was taking us.

I was hardly surprised when we arrived at the cemetery. I should have thought of it before, of course Eddie would be cliché enough to go back to the scene of his first crime.

Dimitri came around the car and opened my car door quickly, helping me descend from the car. In normal circumstances I would have declined but I felt oddly vulnerable; weak.

I was here, I was going to face Eddie, and all I had with me was a packet of pig's blood that I might not even be fast enough to pour on him.

The whole world started spinning and my vision began to blur.

A strong voice sounded in my ear. "Rose, breathe, please Rose breathe. Mia's in there, we need to get her out."

Those were the right words to tell me. As soon as I heard my sisters name the world righted and I could see clearly again. Dimitri was standing in front of me; his hands cupping my face, steadying me.

"I'm fine. Let's go get Mia."

He gave me a look filled with worry. "You don't have to go in there you know. I can get her out. Just stay here where you're safe."

"No. I have to go in there. It's the only way. Only my blood can kill him." I said fiercely.

Dimitri must have known I was serious because he just nodded his head and lead the way.

It had only been a week before that I traveled through this cemetery in broad daylight with Mia. Now it was dark and I was with Dimitri. Under difference circumstances going with Dimitri to an abandoned room hidden away in a cemetery would have been quite intriguing. This on the other hand was like the universal distorting every girl's fantasy into something sick.

There was no light illuminating the cemetery. I kept tripping over my own feet. Twice Dimitri caught me before I fell. But we somehow made it to the room. It was as if Dimitri had night vision because I couldn't see a damn thing.

The shadow of the little room was just barely visible behind the inky darkness of the night.

Dimitri opened the door and suddenly it was as if I was back in my dream, because the whole room was decorated in candles.

"Ahh, Rose, nice of you to join us."

The candles covered every part of the room, but standing in the center was Eddie, Mia next to him.

My initial shock was gone; instead it turned to blinding fury. "You make it sound as if you were expecting me." I said between clenched teeth. My hands were tightly knotted into fists, my knuckles turning white.

Dimitri was still in front of me, and only his hand, which he placed on my shoulder, was holding me back.

"Why of course we were waiting for you. This party could not have started without you." He grinned at me, and I found it disturbing to see such a bright smile on his face.

I lifted my chin and gave him a mocking smile. "How nice of you to have gone to all this trouble for me. Too bad I can't stick around to enjoy it.

"Oh and why not." He looked disappointed.

"Because I don't party with demons, as I recall I'm supposed to kill them. Isn't that right, Eddie? Or whoever the hell you are who is using Eddie's meat suit."

He didn't look surprised. He was expecting this. Eddie's eyes left mine and slid over next to me, looking at Dimitri for the first time since we came in.

"Naughty, naughty, Dimitri. You know better than to tell the little seer our secrets. But never mind, I'll give you the proper punishment in due time. At least you did your job correctly and got her here."

My head snapped towards Dimitri, but his gaze was soly on Eddie's.

"What's the matter Rose?" Eddie called mockingly. "Didn't you know Dimitri here is my shadow?"

Shadow. But no he couldn't be. Suddenly many images of Dimitri came to my mind. He had told me he was forbidden; he couldn't say a word about demons and seers to me. He seemed to be in physical pain when he described to me the forbidden subject.

And when he talked about the men who sold their souls, what was it that he had said.

_Men desperate enough to sell their souls for food and shelter. Men with family's who were dying. _He had said it with so much vigor, at first I thought it was because he had seen it first hand; but what if he was talking about himself?

Another image flashed in my head. Dimitri saying very bitterly_, I do have someone, just not someone worth mentioning._

The cold hard truth hit me like a slap in the face. My eyes focused on Dimitri again. It was so hard for me to believe that this could actually be true.

Lightning fast Dimitri grabbed me and pulled me against him. His arms created a cage around me. My back was against his front, he had me in an inescapable hold.

Dimitri leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I told you to go home. I told you not to come here but you wouldn't listen to me. Now I have no choice."

My breath caught. Dimitri's voice was so final, it was a mix between coldness and grief.

Eddie looked at our interchange, a wry smile on his face. Mia appeared to be in a trance, she was standing next to Eddie completely still; her eyes were wide open and appeared to be looking at something that wasn't here in this room, but far away.

"Funny isn't it." Eddie said. "I actually thought better of you, Rose. But you were so easily caught. It's rather disappointing. I thought for sure you were different. But turns out you're just like Natalie."

I took a sharp intake of breathe when I heard her name. _Natalie. Natalie, I'm sorry_.

"You don't look too surprised. Do you know of little Natalie."

"Yes I do." My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again this time my voice came out stronger. "I know that you killed her."

Eddie's eyebrows raised, "I see Dimitri didn't tell you. Where are your manners Dimitri? Tell her now. Tell her how you lured Natalie. It was quite fascinating. All done to take me out of hell. But what are shadows for right?"

"What?" I couldn't believe it. No! Eddie was the murderer, not Dimitri. Dimitri couldn't, he wouldn't. I couldn't let go of the trust I had for him. He had opened up so much to me; I had seen the goodness in him. That couldn't have been all a lie.

"What's the matter Rose? Not what you expected. Typical. You fell right for my trap and you didn't even realize it. Don't you see, everything I have done is to make Dimitri your savior. I pushed you towards him without you even knowing."

A flash back of the first day I talked to Dimitri came to me. The only reason Dimitri sat next to me was because my desk partner, Mason, had sat behind me in Dimitri's seat. Mason had sat behind me, and next to Eddie, both of them seemingly in a great conversation.

"Mason." I whispered.

"Yes, Mason. All I had to do was offer him the seat next to mine, strike up boring human conversation and that's all it took for the seat next to yours to become unoccupied. And what a stroke of luck that Dimitri was able to sit next to you, don't you think."

"But why?"

"Why? Don't you see that by sheer brilliance I got Dimitri close to you so you could trust him. And of course there's his handsome face; girls could never seem to resist it. That's something both you and Natalie have in common. So easily persuaded by a handsome face, both of you were crazy enough to follow him through a cemetery in the dark."

"I came for my sister!" I shouted.

"Ahh, that's another thing. Next time make sure to hide your feelings for your loved ones. Might save them from getting hurt. I admit at first glance I thought both of you were mere siblings forced to live together. But you made the mistake of showing how much you really cared about her that day in the classroom." I knew what day he was talking about. It was when I stared him down to get him away from her. "It gave me great leverage to get you here."

"You bastard! What did you do to her?"

"Me, nothing. She's in a simple trance is all. She's none of my concern now, she served her purpose."

I was shaking all over and if Dimitri didn't have me in such a tight grasp I would have leaped on Eddie.

Eddie leaned over and pressed his face against Mia's hair, inhaling deeply. "Mmmm she smells rather nice, doesn't she. Too bad she's so shallow. I'm surprised that you love her as much as you do, seeing how she is."

"She isn't shallow; Mia's a good person, unlike you."

"You'd think that wouldn't you. But Mia is a shallow bitch. Always has been. You think just because she's changed that everything is better? Didn't you find it a little weird that Mia started changing, turning into much less of a bitch after her encounter with me."

"What? No, you're lying. You didn't…"

"I did. I performed a hypnosis on her. You see how much power I have over your life. I made you trust two people that were under my command. I got all the information I needed about you from what they told me. And you know what's even better, not only did I push you to trust my people; I also made you distrust the only person who could have helped you." He laughed out loud, nearly buckling over.

Grief overtook me. Christian. He was talking about Christian. An image of Christian's pained face flashed through my mind.

"All I had to do was get Mia to make you come to Christian's house so you could see us together. How incriminating." He laughed again. "If only you knew he was striking a deal to save you. Oh that's rich." Eddie wiped the tears that came out of his eyes.

"Christian was trying to help me?"

"Of course he was. Don't you think it's a rather big coincidence that you made a friend who just happened to have a weird obsession for hell. How he made you study so many defense mechanisms against demons and informed you about the supernatural world. Almost like he was preparing you. All I had to do was get Mia to get me information about you and Christian. As soon as she told me about Christian's obsession I knew what he was. He was your guide. I'll be an inexperienced one but still your guide."

Christian was my guide. Christian was my guide and I abandoned him. Christian was trying to save me and I ditched him for a guy I hardly knew. Remorse tasted bitter, and it didn't go down well. "Now Dimitri if you will, kill her."

**Do you hate me? Anyways, lets see what happens next. Tell me what you think will happen, and lets see if you guess it right. Oh and someone asked me if I did good on finals, I did ok lol. **


	15. Chapter 15 A secret ally

**Hey guys, hope you all had a wonderful New Years, and that you enjoyed yourselves. Anyways I'm trying to update quickly. So tell me what you think of this new chapter. I read all your reviews from the previous chapter, wow you guys are great, I haven't had such a quick response before. Thank you all for reading.**

"Wait!" I shouted. "Why is it that you went to so much trouble to kill me? I was alone with Dimitri several times, why didn't you have him kill me then."

Eddie looked at me seriously. "Because, my dear, I needed you to come willingly onto hollowed out ground. You see this room is built around hollowed out ground. And in order for the ritual to be done correctly you needed to step foot on it willingly."

"R ritual, what ritual?"

"The one I need so I could forever be bound to Earth and never be sent back to the pits of hell. I need a seer; a virgin seer's blood needs to fill up the ground and I must bathe in it."

Bathe in my blood. He wants to shower in it. "That's disgusting!" I said out loud.

Eddie took a step forward. "I'm glad we share the same thought." He said calmly.

A cold sensation on my neck made me aware of a cool sharp object poised against it. Dimitri must have flipped out a knife while I was distracted; he held it against my neck. I winced when he pressed a little too tightly. I was sure there was a thin line cut onto my neck.

"So this whole time you were lying to me." I whispered to Dimitri, so only he could hear.

His voice came out choked. "I warned you, didn't I? I told you that demons could be anyone, that you should trust no one. It was your fault if you still chose to trust me after that warning."

"But you're not a demon."

"No, I'm far worse. I'm his bitch, forced to do anything he wishes. And right now he wishes you to be dead. You must understand that I have to comply." His voice was shaking and I heard years of grief behind it. "You must, please I did not ask for this." He lifted the knife from my neck and tilted it. It was the same action right down to the angle of the knife that I witness the shadow use when he stabbed Natalie.

There was no doubt in my mind that Dimitri was the shadow I saw murder Natalie. But I understand now that he did not do it out of his own free will. He had once told me he was not free to stand up to the one who oppressed him. I didn't understand why when he first said it, but now I could. Dimitri was forced to live this life of obeying his demon master. He had sold his soul for this. I also knew another thing. Deep in my soul, I knew Dimitri was not evil. In his own way he was trying to save me. He wanted me to stay behind; he didn't want me to come. He had purposefully avoided me for days because it was his job to turn me in.

I could see it now, the warning he could not tell me. The little slips he made that pointed to him being the shadow. They were so clear now.

With all these thoughts flashing through my mind there was only one thing I had to tell Dimitri before I died. "Dimitri." I whispered as I saw the knife coming towards me. "I forgive you."

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the bite of the knife, but it never came. When I opened my eyes I saw the point of the knife mere centimeters away from me. Dimitri kept it still with a shaking hand. He turned me quickly around so I could meet his eyes. There was so much in them, grief, sadness, and a determination that was strong but fading.

"Run." It seemed to be taking everything in him to say the words. "Go, as fast as you can. I don't know how much longer I can hold it." Dimitri was shaking from head to toe, his teeth clenched. He was holding back, but the power Eddie had over him was strong. I could see him waging and internal war, one I was sure he would lose. He couldn't hold off Eddie's power for long, but he was giving me a few seconds head start.

I could hear Eddie's angry shouts when Dimitri let me go. I didn't stick around to hear what he said.

I ran as fast as I could out of there. The room was full of blinding light, but outside there was nothing but darkness. I didn't know if I was going the right way. The grass kept tickling my feet as I ran past it, my shoes made a squishy sound from the mud that surrounded the ground.

Shadows of trees were on both sides of the path I was running through. I swirled around the gravestones being careful not to run into one.

I heard footsteps behind me, but their steps were much harder and faster. I could hear them advancing. I pumped my arms higher and willed my legs to go faster, although every muscle in my body seemed to protest. I was running so fast my chest ached and an extreme thirst seemed to develop in my throat. In that moment I knew I was going to die. I could never outrun him.

I was sure that it was Dimitri behind me. I also knew that no matter how much he didn't want to, he was going to kill me. The power Eddie wielded over him was too strong to break. And even though I knew Dimitri was a killer, I could not help but trust him. It was funny when you think about it, the one person I trusted the most was the person I was running away from.

The force of Dimitri's body crashed into me. It knocked the breath right out of me and sent me plunging to the ground. Dimitri climbed over me and pinned me down, his eyes were different, they were no longer the eyes of a wounded man. I could see an evilness in them. It was as if I was seeing into Eddie's eyes instead of Dimitris.

His big hands came around my neck in a second, and he tightened his hands around it, restricting air from coming in.

I couldn't breathe, all I could see was the night sky that was behind Dimitri's head. I didn't want to look at him. He was sneering down at me, enjoying the kill.

The world started getting hazy; my lungs felt like they were shriveling up from lack of air. I heard Dimitri's voice talk to me as he squeezed the life out of me.

"Tell me, Rose, were you disappointed to find out I was the murderer. Or are you more disappointed by the fact that you never got to kiss me before you died." I would have snorted if I could. Trust Dimitri to inflate his ego right as he was killing me. "I dare say you needed a good kiss." He continued giving a harsh laugh, and then everything started going black. I couldn't see anything anymore. I knew I was passing out.

I was in the darkness for a long time when I heard a yell. A force of air rushed itself into my lungs and I started gasping. I felt like I hadn't inhaled for centuries and even then the air I was breathing didn't seem enough to satisfy me. My vision started to clear slowly and I became aware of a huge figure before me. I recoiled back when I realized it wasn't one but two figures. One was on top of the other pinning it down. The one in the bottom looked like it wasn't putting up much of a fight; he was letting himself be pinned down, I realized.

The figure on top pulled out what looked to be rope. I still couldn't get a clear image of them.

"Tie me up to a tree!" The figure on the bottom, Dimitri, I realized, screamed. "Do it now before he makes me stop you."

"That was the plan pretty boy." The voice of the second figure shocked me. It was Christian.

Christian tied a quick knot around Dimitri's hands and led him to a tree. Dimitri obeyed, clearly in control of his body again.

I watched as Christian strapped Dimitri to a tree. My vision getting clearer each time till it was back to normal.

"Christian." I whispered more to myself. They both turned towards me, relief in both of their faces. Christian finished tying up Dimitri and walked towards me cautiously. Dimitri turned his head away. I could tell he was ashamed, his shoulders drooped.

"Rose." Christian said when he was close enough to touch me. "How are you feeling?" He crouched down to my level and looked me in the eyes. Christian's eyes were looking at me with so much compassion. Remorse coursed through me.

I through my arms around him and pressed my face to his chest. "I'm so sorry." I whimpered. "You were right, I should have trusted you."

He held me tightly and kept whispering back "it's ok Rose, it's alright". But it wasn't, how could I make him understand that I messed up. That it was my fault my sister was in there with Eddie, and I probably had no choice but to let him kill me so that she could be free.

"It's not your fault." He whispered back. His voice was shaking slightly and it had taken on a tint of regret. "This is my fault; don't ever think that this could possibly be yours."

I finally looked back into his face and saw the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. "Do you remember that time when you spend the night over at my house?"

I nodded back unsure of where this conversation was leading.

"I told you that we were summoning back my grandfather's spirit but I lied. That wasn't my grandfathers pocket watch, it was Rhea's."

Rhea, that name sounded familiar, but it couldn't be who I was thinking of.

"You don't mean, Lissa's mom do you." Lissa's mom had died five years ago when a random mugger killed her when he found out she wasn't carrying any money.

Christian nodded. "Yes, Lissa's mom."

"What? Why would you? How did you even have her watch?"

"It's kind of difficult to explain, but Lissa's mom left that watch behind, and I grabbed it when she was killed. She was killed in front of me, it was an accident." Christian had a far off look and I knew he was reliving that moment again.

"She knew there was a chance she could die but she took it. She had taken precautions. Rhea was your guide. She was the one who was supposed to help you be a seer. But the demon came too soon, sooner than she expected. She had the trap laid out for him but she hadn't given her powers to Lissa yet."

"Lissa?" I interrupted.

"Yes, since Rhea knew there was a chance she would die she wanted Lissa to take over and be your seer. She had filled Lissa in on a lot of the knowledge that only guides have. But the demon came at night for her. She knew it was now or never so she took a chance and released her powers to the nearest person in sight."

"There was a lonely little boy playing outside in his yard. Right before she died, she gave him her power."

"You." I whispered.

"Yes, me. I didn't have any knowledge about being a seer but the few that she managed to instill in me. I was a novice and I had to learn everything through books. But that wasn't enough. I knew I wasn't training you like I should, so I tried to summon Rhea so that she could guide us. But I didn't know. Rhea and the demon both left imprints of themselves on the objects that were left behind. When they died their souls were meshed together and sent to hell. The demon is the stronger of the two so he was able to rise when I called."

"I was so stupid, Rose, stupid for not looking more into it. I felt his presence when the candles unlit. I knew what I had done. I had allowed him to connect to the Earth. It was only for a couple seconds, but he was able to call on Dimitri to do his bidding in that time. So you see, it's my fault not yours, never yours."

Christian looked so grieved by this revelation, I ached to comfort him. I wanted to say something, anything that would make him feel better.

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance. Dimitri's angry voice interrupted. "So it was your fault that animal contacted me. Do you know how long I have wanted to be free of him? Do you understand the amount of awful things he made me do? I was so glad to be free of him, for five short years I was in peace, but now it's over."

"Stop it!" I yelled. I leveled my gaze towards Dimitri."Don't you see that Christian feels bad enough without you rubbing it in his face. I hate that you're in pain but don't take it out on him."

"He's right though. I was a complete idiot."

Dimitri said something that sounded like an agreement. I glared at him and he stared back in a manner that I knew meant he didn't regret the jester.

Something dawned on me in that moment. "That's why you were talking with Lissa." I realized.

"Yes, she was able to give me more insight on this guide business. She would have actually made a good one."

I snorted. I was glad Lissa never got to be my guide. I don't know if I could have stood that much contact with the human Barbie doll.

"No really, she would have been good for you. She was the one who came up to me when she figured out you were a seer. She genuinely wanted to help."

"How did she figure out I was a seer?" She always called me names, but never once did she let on that she knew what I was. And another thing, since when is Lissa so helpful?

"A little over a week ago, when you stared her in the eyes, she saw it, the seer in you."

Thinking back to that day, her reaction made sense now. It wasn't how people usually reacted. She didn't cower in fear like everyone else, she was in shock. And something else, it was as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. As if she had seen something that only legends talk about.

"Ok, that's enough talk." Dimitris voice came impatiently from his tree. "These arms of mine aren't just meant to look good. If he takes control of me once again—and he will—I could easy break through these ropes with my strength. And of course my glorious muscles." He flexed from under the rope to demonstrate the muscles that rippled from his arms.

"You know you're really not what I expected. I didn't think a demons shadow could be this vain." Christain observed.

"We're not. I'm just the exception, cause I'm so damn good looking. Now go, get out of here."

Right, Mia. She was still in there with that feign, nothing else mattered but getting her out. I ran back towards the room. Christian close at my heels. I barged in not even being discreet about my return.

"Ahh Rose." Eddie was standing in the center of the room, still in the same spot, he hadn't moved an inch and neither had Mia. "Nice of you to join us again. Oh and you brought, Christian. I believe a thank you will suffice dear Christian, for my return would never have happened without you." He bowed down to Christian with a genuine smile. Christian did not return it.

"So have you come to accept your fate, or will we need Dimitri to come here and convince you." He rubbed his hands together vigorously as if he was preparing to give a speech to all evil doers.

"You know I could just kill you." I said, remembering the process that the book, Having a Demon Problem, set out.

"Well that's not very nice Rose. After all the trouble I went to set this place up, my guest of honor is going to try to kill the host." He laughed so chilling that I felt a shiver go all the way down my spine.

"That's not very funny, considering she could do it." Christian smirked. There was something different about Christian, I realized. He was standing erect, his face was void of fear, and he had confidence. He looked different from the scared little boy I'd come to know, this was a man. Christian had grown up. There was something about him that made me honestly believe he was able to stand up to this demon.

"Really, well I don't think she has the guts to kill me. Considering that killing me will also kill her precious Dimitri."

My head snapped quickly towards Eddie. _Kill Dimitri_? "You're lying." I said it with as much conviction as I could, but a deep fear had settled in my heart. He couldn't be right, could he?

"Does it look like I would lie? But of course if you don't trust me go right ahead and do it." He smirked.

"Even if that is true, what makes you so certain that I wouldn't still kill you? If I recall Dimitri is a murderer. Killing him wouldn't be so bad." I worked to keep the nonchalance in my voice. I was lying through my teeth.

Eddie reached out and grabbed a stray hair that had blown across Mia's face, and put it behind her ear. It was a gentle caress, one you would see a lover doing. She smiled at him sincerely with eyes that were dark abysses. There was nothing in that person's expression that reminded me of Mia. The thought that he had made her his puppet made me sick.

"Don't put that act on me Rose. I know you well. I watched you when you were little, of course then you just thought I was a bad dream. When I was sent to hell I still didn't give up on you. I knew one day we would meet formally. And just like I knew we were going to meet, I knew that a sweet girl like you would not resist helping a tortured soul. And Dimitri's soul is practically the most tortured there is, since he clings to his humanity. I'm right aren't I. You wouldn't bare to hurt Dimitri because deep down you want to save him. And how would you be able to live with yourself knowing you killed the life of an innocent."

"Be quiet, you stupid slime!" Christian screamed and lunged at Eddie. Eddie flicked Christian to the wall with a simple twist of his wrist as if he weighed nothing. Christian collided against the wall hard, cracking the wall, chips fell in several directions.

Eddie tilted his head up, his eyes turning completely black, right down to the whites of his eyes. A loud thump resounded from the cemetery. It sounded like the Earth was ripping in half.

"Ahh, that should be Dimitri." Eddie smiled. Eddie must have Dimitri back in control. "So what is it going to be Rose? Either way I'm going to get you. It's your choice if you want Dimitri to bring you to me or are you going to turn yourself over and save yourself some dignity."

I looked towards Christians slumped shape on the floor. His chest was rising and falling; he was breathing, but he was knocked unconscious. Mia was standing in the center of the room next to Eddie with a goofy grin on her face. She was so gone from this world, only getting rid of Eddie would bring her back. There was no way I could defeat Eddie, not with Dimitri's strength. Dimitri could have me pinned down on the floor in less than a second.

I felt Dimitri's presence behind me. I knew I would never be able to escape him. "Fine, I'll go willingly." I decided.

Eddie broke out in a wide smile. Little lines appeared next to his eyes when they crinkled and his face, which always looked repulsive to me looked pleasant for once. "Excellent."

I walked slowly, deliberately trying to prolong possibly the last seconds of my life. I made sure to knock over several candles on purpose before I stopped in front of Eddie. I was close enough to smell his scent, sweat mixed with cologne, and a tint of sulfur. I kept my back on Dimitri.

I cursed myself for not having dipped the ruda leaves in the pigs blood beforehand. I couldn't even use the salt, there was no way I'd be able to trap him behind it in such little time.

"Shall we." He asked extended his hand as if he were asking me for a dance.

"Wait. If I do this you've got to promise that you'll let Mia go." I looked at him sternly, willing him to listen to me.

He scoffed. "Done. I didn't like the brat anyways. No amount of prettiness could block out her annoying habits."

I chose to ignore that. "And you can't hurt Christian. He has to be left alone."

"Is that it darling, because you demand too much considering I'm the top dog here, not you."

"You didn't promise the last one."

"Fine, I won't touch the boy." He said angrily. I was surprised that he was conceding to my demands considering he referred to himself as the top dog.

I nodded my head to signal that I was ready. He pulled out a long dagger from his pocket; the tip looked as if it had been sharpened recently. Words scrawled in another language were inscribed on the handle. The dagger glinted in the candlelight.

There was a red glow on Eddie's face; it was possibly on mine too. I dug my hands in my pockets and watched Eddie raise the dagger high over his head. He chanted strange words, most of which I recognized were in Latin, his voice coming in tongues, it sounded deep. I looked at the dagger that was poised to strike at me, and I couldn't make myself be afraid. I didn't understand why I wasn't. I should be.

As I watched Eddie utter his last words his eyes opened and looked straight at me, a sort of wretchedness in them. My fingers wrapped around the object in my pocket.


	16. Chapter 16 Kiss kiss bang bang

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. School consumed me, but I'm back. I know I left it as a bit of a cliff hanger, but hopefully this makes up for it. You guys are great have a lovely day and tell me what you think with a review.**

When the dagger came down instead of striking me it slipped out of Eddie's fingers and landed on the ground. Eddie clutched his face in pain, twitching and yelling out. I had dowsed his face with the holy water I had in my pocket. I wasn't sure it would work, but it was my last option. I knew there was a way to send Eddie to hell but I needed Dimitri and him incapacitated.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Dimitri was also clutching his face in agony, having felt the same thing Eddie had.

I worked fast dousing the remaining amount of water all over Eddie. He tried to jerk out of the way causing half of the water to spill on the floor, but the amount that got on him did the damage. He fell on the floor, crumpled in a ball, and screamed in pain. Eddie's and Dimitri's scream fueled as one; they motivated me.

I quickly picked up the dagger Eddie had dropped and cut a line on my palm. Inky red blood oozed out.

Three drops on the demon, that's all it takes. I clenched my hand into a fist above him and pressed my fingertips tight on the cut to make more blood come out. One, two, three drops of blood fell on his face. And that's when he sprang up and attacked me.

Eddie had me by the neck; his body crushed mine under him, immobilizing me. He grabbed my head and pounded it against the cement floor, hard. I heard a crack. The world became dizzy. I could taste blood; the pressure of Eddies body was crushing me. He was screaming something at me, but it felt like time was going slower. His words sounded like mush coming out way to slow to comprehend.

He held me still, his eyes penetrating. He was so close to me; his face so close I could smell his hot breath wavering over me. All I needed to do was tip my head up and our lips would meet. It was such a simple act but my head felt like it weighed tons. I could feel blood seeping out of the wound on my head.

He reached for the dagger I had dropped when he attacked me and pointed it at my heart. "I'm sorry it has to end this way, sugar. Let it be known that I had nothing against you personally. I just had no better option."

I couldn't move but somehow I made my neck tilt up; my head lifted quickly, it was painful. And then we were kissing. My lips bumped against his hard, fusing our mouths together in a kiss. His eyes widened bright in fear before I saw the black in his eyes fade to their natural brown. Eddie collapsed against the floor. He had passed out, but by the last look I saw in his eyes I knew that it was the real Eddie I was seeing, and not the demon.

All the air rushed out of me because Eddie's body had collapsed on top of me. I was too weak to move it, and I felt like at any moment I was going to pass out from my head wound. My lungs were having a difficult time catching air. I felt relief a few moments later when Eddie's body was moved off of me. I was starting to lose consciousness when I felt two strong arms wrap around me and lift me off the ground. I felt the cool crisp night air which signaled that I was no longer in the room. He was running with me in his arms. Dimitri, the real Dimitri had me.

I closed my eyes, feeling myself fall asleep when I was shaken roughly. "Don't go to sleep on me, you hear that Rose." His voice sounded so worried. But I was so tired, my eyes kept betraying me. "What did I say Rose? You stay with me."

"I'm trying." I answered back annoyed. He chuckled which pissed me off more. "Stop laughing, this is serious."

My eyes had opened and I was able to see Dimitri's lips trying to smother in a laugh. How he could run with me in his arms yet keep his face neutral, as if he wasn't physically exhorting himself, is beyond me.

"Don't you think I know this is serious? I'm just relieved you're able to talk to me like yourself."

"So much for being a demon hunter." I wheezed out.

"I am. That part wasn't a lie. I just can't kill my demon."

We had entered the parking lot but he didn't take me to his car. Instead he took me to another car that was parked close to his. It was a Catalac, glossy blue and looked fresh out of the dealership. I recognized the car. Lisaa had only paraded it around school for months while I secretly itched to scratch it with my keys.

The pretty blond was inside but when she saw us approach she quickly got out. "What happened to her?"

There was actual concern in her voice. I couldn't believe this was the same Lissa who had tormented me these past few years.

"She's hurt. She needs to go to the hospital. Can you take her?"

"Yeah of course. Where's Christian?" She looked so small in that moment. Her eyes were wide pleading with Dimitri to give her good news. And the way she said Christian's name. It was as if there was no air left her lungs. With me she was concerned over my well being, but it didn't compare to how she looked when she was asking for Christian.

"He's fine." The deep worry lines smoothed out of Lissa's face with those two words. "I'm going back to get him and Mia, but Rose needs to go to the hospital now." His words were kind but there was a harsh edge to them. Lissa didn't argue, she let him put me in her backseat. "Don't let her go to sleep." I heard him say before the doors were shut and we were driving away.

The drive consisted of Lissa frequently smacking me in the face with her sweater whenever I would close my eyes. I replied back with a few choice words, even though I knew she was doing it for my own good—well mostly.

She half carried half dragged me out of the car when we got to the hospital. I imagined that nurses and doctors would be running towards us in a panic, helping me on a stretcher. The reality was nothing like that. I waited in the waiting room for about an hour before a doctor saw me. The bleeding on my head had mostly stopped. The seats we were sitting on weren't even cushiony, they were hard plastic. The room was full of people looking as uncomfortable as we felt. Lissa had resumed on smacking me whenever my eyes would start drooping.

I ended up getting five stitches on the head, and my cuts and bruises were treated. The doctor was noticeably in a rush because of the many other patients in need. Some were worse off than I so I shooed him away so he could attend them.

For several hours I was awake, until they deduced that it was ok for me to fall asleep. When I awoke again I was in a different room. I was lying on one of the hospital beds in the middle of two other beds. There was a person on each of the them, but both were asleep. One was heavily bandaged and the other appeared to have no problems except for lack of sleep.

The hospital was alive with noise. I could hear several footsteps passing by the closed door. Wheels were being rolled—probably by a wheelchair or a gurney. The pasty white walls were depressing me, and the smell of rubbing alcohol was strong. I wished there were curtains separating the beds. I didn't feel like staring at two sleeping strangers.

I propped up my head with a pillow and turned on the little television they had inside the room. I didn't know what time it was but I knew someone was going to come soon, so might as well entertain myself for a bit while I'm here.

My parents came in around 10 am. It was Saturday. Relief exploded inside me when I saw Mia with my mom and dad. My mom was the first one to get to me. She practically collapsed on me, her green eyes leaking tears. She gave me a watery smile and hugged me closely. My dad was more reserved but I could see the relief in his brown eyes.

"That's enough; you're going to choke the poor girl." My dad joked but his voice was thick full of emotion, he was more worried than he was letting on.

"Be quiet Ibraham, you know you were in as much a frenzy as I was last night. You even ran out of the house looking for Rose in your boxers."

"They were briefs, so if anything the neighbors got a good look at what I'm packing." He winked at my mom and I cringed.

That horrible image was going to stay with me for a while. I got the satisfaction of seeing Mia cringe too. I caught her eye, and we stared at each other for a good second. I could sense her confusion. From the look in her eye I could tell she was trying to remember something but couldn't. She shook her head to try to clear it and continued to look at me curiously. I gave her a wide smile, and her gaze automatically turned suspicious. She knew there was something she was missing, but I wasn't giving up anything. The less she knows the better. She'll be safer this way.

Once they saw I was fine my parents bombarded me with questions over how this had happened. I managed to dodge most of them, coming up with the excuse that I was mugged when I came out of the party. I got grounded for a month for sneaking away without their permission, and even Mia gave me the stink eye for not taking her.

"Karma!" My dad shouted then lowered his voice when he realized he had shouted in the hospital scaring the crap out of the heavily bandaged guy next to me. "Sorry. But like I was saying this is all karma. If you would have just stayed home like Mia here, none of this would have happened." He scratched his head pensively. "Honestly I'm more surprised that it was you who snuck out to the party."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." My mom said curiously. She was confused and I knew it. They would never have even believed it if there hadn't been witnesses that I was actually at the party. "And if Dimitri went with you, why wasn't he there when they mugged you outside?"

I had to tell them that I went with Dimitri because the people at the party described that I was with a tall attractive "dude". Luckily I had already thought of the perfect excuse. Something we teenagers were so prone to with our hormones.

"He was too busy flirting with a blond girl named Lissa to make me jealous because he got all mad that I was spending so much time with Christian. So I ditched that place."

This they did not expect. It was so normal; they all give me the same disbelieving look.

"What?" I shrugged. "Boys try to make me jealous sometimes, it's not completely impossible."

"No of course not." My dad shook his head slightly. "Well, wow, I don't even know if I should tell her to stay away from Dimitri." He said directing the question to my mom.

She gave him a stern look before turning to me. "We'll just talk about him later, when we have the boy talk."

Damn. I had always been able to avoid the boy talk, never having a special someone of my own. Now I was going to have to endure hours of safe sex conversations and abstinence.

"Oh little sister." Mia grinned at me. "We are going to have so much fun during these talks." I stuck my tongue out, making her grin wider.

"Can we not talk about my little girls having the boy talk?" My dad pleaded, visibly shaken by the turn the conversation had headed.

Two police men interrupted the family reunion, wanting to get my report. One looked about forty, he had graying hair and was tall, towering over the other much younger police man who was clearly a rookie.

My description over the supposed assailant was sketchy, and I could see the two men were not satisfied by the end of my report.

"Sorry, that's all I remember. It was a very traumatic experience you know?" I said overplaying the helpless victim a little.

The older one looked at me suspiciously, not quite buying my story but the rookie just nodded along understandingly.

"Of course. Sorry for the bother." The rookie smiled showing off the dimples in his cheeks and setting off a very handsome face. His black curly hair made a nice contrast to his creamy skin and he had brilliantly soft blue eyes. I felt a pang when I realized his eyes reminded me of Christian's.

"Do you happen to know if anyone else with a possible concussion was checked into the hospital?" I asked the rookie because the older one was still glowering at me.

He looked confused. "No, why? Is there someone else we should take into account?"

"No, thank you, I was just wondering." So Christian wasn't at the hospital. Maybe the damage wasn't as bad as I thought.

The older one looked suspiciously at me but thankfully didn't pursue my question .

"Well nice meeting you. My name is Jerrard by the way." The rookie said giving me another wide smile. The older one bumped him in the shoulder as a warning and I caught the slight shake in his head. Was the older cop warning Jerrard? But to what, to not flirt with me? Was that what that was, flirting. I think it was. I had seen countless times when the boys at school had flirted with girls but this was the first time it was directed at me. Weird.

They made me stay a full 24 hours in the hospital. I wasn't released till Sunday with a clean bill that I could be back in school by Monday. Lame I didn't even get a day of excused relaxation at home. And because my parents were still technically mad at me for sneaking out, no amount of begging got me to stay home.

I stayed in my room most of Sunday, just plopped on my bed. After all the weirdness it felt good to just relax and do something normal. My cell phone rang, interrupting the peace but when I saw Christian's name flashing on my silver phone I nearly dropped it in my anxiety to get it open.

"Christian! Are you ok?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" I could hear the smile in his voice but I was so relieved to be hearing him I decided to ignore it.

"I was so worried, when I saw you crash against the wall I—" My voice choked up remembering the image of Christian's limp form on the floor. It had always been Christian and I against the world. But that night I stood alone against Eddie. I didn't like it.

"Its fine, I just acted stupid and irrational, letting my emotions get in the way. I should have never charged towards Eddie like that. You know we should probably stop calling him Eddie, because the real Eddie is going to be coming back to school and that's just going to be confusing."

"You're telling me. I have a class with him. How am I supposed to see him as something other than the evil demon mastermind who tried to kill me?"

"Just remember that the real Eddie is a vegan who would never hurt a fly. While the demon wanted to bath in your blood?" The disgust oozed off of his voice. "Which reminds me, you kissed him didn't you?" If I could see Christian's face I'm pretty sure his eyebrows would be raising up and down all purvey. He always wondered which of us would get our first kiss. I assumed it would be him because he could actually be normal if he wanted to be. Guess I beat him to it.

"Don't even talk about that. That doesn't count as a real kiss." I shivered. I wonder what the look in the real Eddie's face would be if he knew I had kissed him. "Besides that secret is best kept between us, promise."

"Promise, my little demon kisser."

"Christian!"

I went to sleep early that night, in part to make my parents happy, but also because I wasn't able to get a good night sleep on the hard hospital mattresses. It had been so long since I'd had a normal dream; one where demons and death weren't constantly lurking. It felt good until I realized who was starring in it. Dimitri.

I hadn't heard from him but in my dream we were next to a river lying under the shade of a tree. The tree was filled with leaves, it was completely brimming over, and the ground to was littered with countless leaves. The sun wasn't out, but the moon was, it's light was strong and if you didn't see it, you would think it was day time. Dimitri's arms were wrapped around me as if trying to keep the night chill away, but I couldn't feel it, only his warmth. He whispered my name in my ear over and over and I kept calling his name back. His voice was getting farther away from me even though he was next to me. I didn't understand it, for some reason I started panicking. Suddenly he was gone and I screamed for him louder than ever until I awoke.

My room was dark and the clock on my mantel said it was 4:00 am. I wiped the hair and sweat off of my face, staring off into the ceiling. There had been no contact from Dimitri these past two days. And Christian had recalled to me during our little chat that he had awoken in his bedroom. There had been no sign that Dimitri had ever been in his room. He was even in his pajamas. An image of Dimitri dressing Christian flashed through my mind. It was hard to imagine, but Christian's voice convinced me. He sounded like he had been violated when he recounted it.

Dimitri had his freedom back that was all that mattered. If he chose to spend it away from this town then who could blame him. I shouldn't even be angry that he didn't say goodbye. I hardly knew the guy and besides he saved my life; that was payment enough. But irrationally I was upset. This boy had made such a big impact on my life in such short a time. It felt awful that the effect I made in his life wasn't even worth a goodbye.

I pushed back angry tears and went back to sleep. I didn't like to cry.

**Alright guys, just to let you know this story is almost coming to an end. On another side note I kind of want to do a chapter about Dimitri's past, how he became a shadow and all that. What do you guys think? Will you guys like to see that?**


	17. Chapter 17 The beginning in the end

**Hey guys, I'm back at it again. Let me know what you think by leaving me a review. **

It was dark. My eyes were closed. The wood floor was freshly waxed and would squeak whenever I scooted. A lighted cinnamon scented candle was in the middle of the room. I didn't have to open my eyes to know it was there. The room was big, the ceiling stretched up 2 stories high. The room was painted a mahogany brown and according to Lissa was never used, so we could have total use of it without getting interrupted.

And yes, I said Lissa. It had been two weeks since the Eddie incident and when the real Eddie came back to school it was obvious he was back to being the same shy, geeky boy from before; the one who was too embarrass to talk to girls, much less try to kill them.

Getting used to Eddie wasn't the weird part. Getting used to Lissa was. Christian and I were in for a shock when she started hanging out in our table during lunch, even going as far as sitting next to me in the classes we shared. If we weren't shocked enough she started proposing we hang out after school at her place. Beauty queen Lissa was asking the freaks of the school to go to her place. She didn't even seem to care when she started getting shunned by our classmates. She seemed content to join the freaks. And as suspicious as I was of her I couldn't deny that I was getting better at my seer's power. Lissa was turning out to be a great teacher.

Of course the Seer's Handbook was also helpful. Once Christian allowed the book to show itself the pages became filled with words. There were directions, pictures, incantations, and everything I could possibly need. But we were going by the book, one page at a time which meant we had a long way ahead of ourselves since the book was about a thousand pages long, maybe more.

Currently Lissa was teaching me to feel the presence of demons. The process would come naturally but when you're first learning its best to be in a calm environment. Demons surround our everyday lives, but some demon are less of a threat than others. Being able to feel demons will make me able to know what level of threat they are. Some aren't even worth a fight.

Every seer has power bestowed upon them. But they can't tap into that power unless they know they have it. That's where guides come in, and of course The Seer's Handbook. It teaches you each power you have and how to use it. Lissa says it's hard in the beginning to use the power, but with practice I'll be able to master it.

I breathed in deeply and was able to feel the energy Christian and Lissa emitted. Both human, the feel I got from them was warm, like a summer day on the beach bottled up within them. I could feel Lissa's dad upstairs in his room, probably working like always. The feel of the humans spread till I was able to feel the whole neighborhood. All were warm—some more than others. I tried expanding my feel further but it was hard, like trying to stretch out a pair of jeans that fit you too tight. My forehead started sprinkling sweat from the effort. I could hear Lissa's voice guiding me.

"Easy now, don't exhort yourself. We'll do this a little at a time."

"It's ok. I think I could push it further."

My feel was stretching further, reaching the second block. Hands were placed on my shoulders to hold me still. I didn't realize I was shaking.

"Easy Rose. Don't do too much."

I shook my head and continued, pushing my power to the limit. I closed my eyes tight and felt the sweat drip off the edge of my nose. Suddenly my feel snapped back, recoiling back inside of me. I opened my eyes suddenly with a gasp.

"What happened?" It was Christian, as concerned as always about me. I didn't know what to say, I couldn't even believe it myself. I was struggling for breath.

"I went almost two blocks." I said breathlessly.

"Wow. That's very good for your first time." Lissa said impressed. Her eyes glanced between Christian and I briefly.

"Yeah, thanks." I said without much emotion. Christian and Lissa noticed. I'm usually the one who brags about my awesome skills; taking any chance to stroke my ego playfully. I brushed off their questioning glances and excused myself. I needed to go home.

"Are you sure you're ok." Christian asked.

"Yes I'm fine." I told them both. "I just have to get home. I forgot my mom wanted me home early today."

Lissa nodded accepting my excuse. Christian wasn't buying it. He gave me the look that meant we'd talk about it later. Sometimes it sucked having a friend who knew you as much as you knew yourself.

I picked up my backpack and slung it on, giving them a hurried goodbye before walking out. I didn't know what I felt, confused, maybe surprised. It was definitely unexpected. Maybe I should have told Christian and Lissa, but I needed to see this for myself first.

When I got home the house was quite. The living room smelled like pine sole which meant my mother had recently mopped. The pillows on the couch looked fluffed. It seemed a little late for her to have just finished cleaning but I wasn't going to judge. I walked quickly upstairs taking two steps at a time. I took a quick glance towards Mia's room and saw the door cracked slightly open. Music was blazing from her room, and I could see her sprawled on the bed with a magazine under her nose.

I hadn't talked to her much in this past week. She seemed to go back to her old ways of avoiding me as much as possible. I guess Eddie wasn't lying; she was under his mind control. It pained me to think that I missed the fake Mia Eddie created. He got me good. Who knew I really did have a weak spot for my sister. I craved her attention, her love, and he used that against me.

I took one more wistful glance towards her before going into my room. I locked the door behind me and dumped the contents of my bag on my bed. Grabbing my folder I took out the homework assignment my math teacher gave the class and sat cross legged on my bed. The sun was going to set in about an hour. I just had to be patient and wait.

The room had grown dark; the setting sun made my walls glow and eerie red before finally setting. I turned the lamp next to my bed on casting shadows in my room. My back hurt from being hunched over my homework so I slowly leaned back stretching my muscles. It felt relieving. I closed my eyes and stretched further back reveling in the sensation. My back was arched, my stomach was pointing towards the ceiling. I had to get more into yoga; the feeling of stretching really did calm a person down.

When I opened my eyes again I saw a pair of eyes looking at me from the shadows of my room. And I did something a normal sane person would not do. I smiled at it. And the pair of eyes—brown eyes to be exact—seemed to be smiling back.

"So what Kama Sutra position is this?" The velvety voice came from the shadows, and I couldn't help it. I laughed; a deep full laugh which made me fall out of my stretching position and collapsed onto my bed.

"You should know. Haven't you tried about all the positions there at least once?"

He snorted sounding offended. "Once, really. I thought you had more class than that. We all know that I've tried all those positions more than once. I could show you the correct way to position yourself if you want." He winked. "Maybe even give you a full body lesson."

"I feel flattered darling." I said with a mock British accent. "When shall we start and where? I say the bed is a bit too boring and old fashioned, isn't it."

He stepped out of the shadows letting my lamp light hit him. He was covering his smile, but the rest of his body was shaking with the trapped laughter. I took a deep breath, it had been a while since I had seen him. His hair looked like he had raked his fingers too many times over it making it stand in all directions. He was dressed in his usual jeans and black t-shirt. But there was something about his face. It was more relaxed, more peaceful. He looked happy, I realized. Before there was always a touch of sadness to him even when he laughed. Now he looked free. Painfully I had to admit that he looked glorious. I was kicking myself for changing into my pajamas at the last minute. I touched my hair self consciously knowing that was a mess too.

"You look beautiful." He said with so much warmth I was caught off guard.

"And you look like you just rolled out of someone's bed." I said truthfully. I didn't need to add that he looked gorgeous none the less.

"Oh yeah you know, threesomes can get quite hectic sometimes."

"You don't say." My lips pursed hoping he was joking.

He walked closer towards me. I felt the bed sink when he sat down next to me. "You weren't surprised when you saw me. You knew I was coming." He whispered.

"Yes."

"I see your powers been growing. Lissa's been helping you?"

"Yes, she has. She's pretty good."

"She should be, considering who her mother was."

I'm pretty sure he saw the confused look in my face because he backtracked. "I mean her mother was one of the greats. I met her once. She knew I didn't choose this life and she helped me. She taught me how to resist the call of my demon. And sometimes I could. But when the call was too strong—like you saw at the cemetery—it became too hard to resist. I owe her a lot. Before her I would be forced to obey every single one of master's requests. I helped her send him to Hell the night she died. He sent me to kill her and I resisted long enough for her to do it. What I didn't expect was her death." His head bowed forward, his face hidden from me. "I watched while they both burst into flames. I didn't know that she had already chosen a seer. I found that out recently." He lifted his head up and looked at me grimly. "So you see. If I knew she had left a seer behind I would have found you and helped you. I owe Rhea my life, it's the least I could have done."

"So, you helped me as a debt to Rhea?" I asked. A feeling of chagrin emanated deep in my stomach. So is that what all this was. He felt like he had a duty to protect me to make it up to Rhea. I wanted to laugh at myself, of course that's all it was. Why else would he concern himself with me? I was nothing but a pain to him anyways.

"If I knew you existed before, I would have. Unfortunately when I enrolled to school it wasn't to help you. I was under orders from Raziel to find out if you were the seer. So my intentions weren't very noble this time. I was actually plotting to kill you."

"Well that's a comforting thought. Wait Raziel?" Who the hell is Raziel?

"Oh that's the name of my demon. The one who was inside Eddie."

"And you couldn't have mentioned his name before." I whined. It would have been so much easier trapping him if I could have just made that circle of blood with his name."

"Sorry." His head slumped down looking shamefully. "I wasn't able to."

"It's ok. So you were trying to kill me." I said getting back into the topic.

He shrugged. "Well that's the truth. Nothing I can do to change it. I didn't want to kill you, but it was hard to ignore his command, though at some points I was able to fight it."

"In the diner." I realized.

"Yes, I was able to fight it then. But still I needed you to be quiet and natural. Greater demons like Raziel are able to manipulate the lesser demons to spy for them. There were some in the diner trailing you, so I needed them to think that I was following Raziel's plan on getting you to trust me. That's why the next time I took you away from everyone, into the forest, so that Raziel's demons wouldn't hear us."

"So those were the ears. Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Because I already had to tell you that a demon was coming after you. I thought that telling you that he had a lot of minor demons trailing you would be too much to handle. You would be jumpy all the time, not knowing who's human and who is demon. That would have definitely tipped off Raziel that I was helping you. Besides you don't have to worry about lesser demons, they don't cause any damage. They just stick their nose in other people's business."

"But they still posses people."

"Yes, that's the unfortunate thing about them."

My room was a silhouette of black, the only light illuminated Dimitri and I. I looked at him closely, his brown eyes looked darker in that moment, and there was a certain hunger coming off of him.

"Why are you back, Dimitri? I thought you had left for good."

"Wouldn't do that quite yet darling. You'd miss me too much."

"Then where did you go?"

"I had some unfinished business."

"So why are you here?" I asked again. His eyes searched mine before looking down at my lips. My heart sped up knowing what he was thinking. He wanted to kiss me. The look of hunger became more pronounced on his face and I felt butterflies knowing that I was the reason why.

He leaned forward painfully slow, and when his lips were so close to mine they were practically brushing he said, "I figured I would keep helping you. Join your group of three and make it four." His soft breath hit my lips before he finally crashed his lips on mine. The kiss was angry, passionate, every emotion he was feeling was pushed into that kiss. Slowly the kiss became more tender, slowing down before he gave me two last sweet pecks.

"For the record I don't appreciate that Raziel kissed you before I did." He whispered against my lips. "But since it's you I'm willing to overlook that fact."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes, feeling content in just being near him. "Were you jealous?" I asked jokingly.

"Jealous? Me? Extremely."

"Well maybe you're not use to jealousy since everyone throws themselves at you."

"That's not my fault their darling. I can't help it if my genes made me this good looking."

"Ah yes. Everyone seems to want a strapping seventeen year old lad to churn their butter." I felt him still suddenly. I opened my eyes and noticed his guarded expression.

"What's wrong?" I said slowly. I kept my arms around him to encourage him to talk.

"It's nothing." He said awkwardly. "It's just, well, I'm a bit older than you think."

I exhaled relieved. "I know that. You were changed into a shadow and now you stay the same age you were when they turned you." I had researched shadows this past week, intrigued to find out more about Dimitri. I wasn't sure when Dimitri was turned, but I knew it had been several years ago.

"That's not what I meant. I was turned a long time ago that's true."

"How long ago?"

"Well let's just say that I met George Washington before he became our first president."

I gripped his back tightly, pressing my nails deep into his t-shirt. Other than that I made no reaction that I was surprised.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you all about what I've seen other time."

I nodded eagerly picturing the dirt he could tell me about our founding fathers.

"But what I meant was that when I was turned I wasn't seventeen. I was twenty three."

I froze. He shook me a couple times with no response. He grabbed my face and moved it from side to side.

"If you don't respond, now, I'm bringing the glass of water and I'll show no mercy. I'll throw it all over your pretty face you hear."

"Twenty three." I finally managed to spit out. This whole time I was with a guy who was twenty three. I kissed a guy who was seven years older than me. A guy who could legally drink when I can't even get a pack of cigarettes because I'm sixteen.

"Does that bother you?"

I thought about it. Does it? I didn't get why I was overreacting. Sure he was seven years older than me. But he wasn't going to get older. Hell, in a couple of years I was going to be older than him. The thought hit me with a pang. My throat felt hallow and when I looked back at him I realized something.

"No, that doesn't bother me." I whispered. And this time I leaned forward and kissed him, washing away the sadness with his lips.

**That is the end of the story. A bit bitter sweet I know, but I think they'll make it work. Anyways the next chapter is going to be about Dimitri's past and then we shall be done with this little story for now. Maybe later I'll make a continuing story to this in the near future..**


	18. Dimitri's Past

**Hey, so this is just a little insight on how Dimitri came to be what he is. Hope you like it. Review and tell me what you think.**

A solitary walk through the dark colony would have been a calming jester for Dimitri Belikov, if it wasn't done out of desperation. And Dimitri knew well that being desperate in Jamestown, Virginia was enough to cost you your life.

He was in pain from constant starvation, but so was everyone in this god forsaken place. The colony had made a fatal mistake when they didn't plant enough crops and as a result the winter of 1609 was a period of famine and starvation.

Men were starving enough to do anything to get a piece of food on their tables. Some would resort to the vile and dig up graves to eat the bodies; needless to say it was a desperate time.

Dimitri watched all these atrocities, he watched the dying men wither with malnutrition. He watched while the desperate men ate the dying for survival. The latter always disgusted him. But nothing was more disturbing to Dimitri than the soul robbing fiends. The demons who came straight out of hell to pry upon the desperate.

Men desperate enough for food would sell their souls to these demons to supply some support for their wives. They had good intentions, unfortunately the demons had the opposite. The men's wife would be provided with food and would live a happy life. The men on the other hand would be damned to hell.

Dimitri understood these men, for if he had a woman he too would give up his soul for her. Fortunately Dimitri ,at twenty three , had no one but his brother Ivan and Ivan's wife.

Dimitri found himself alone in his walk in search for something edible to bring to his family. Having found nothing he descended his lonely walk back through the dark colony.

It was a rare occurrence for Dimitri to walk at night, being that demons were a common occurrence in Jamestown. He was alert and ready for any demon that might approach him.

He walked on in a path surrounded by neighboring trees with a deep hunger in his stomach and a frailty of an old man. Long ravenously hungry days have made him much weaker than he once was. As frail as he felt he figured it would not be good to encounter a demon.

A slight rustle from a nearby tree alerted Dimitri of someone's presence. He stood stock still, hoping that whoever was there would not hear of his presence.

From the tree Dimitri heard a murmured whisper pass between two people. He knew too well the situation he was intruding in, some other soul was going to be snatched tonight. These men were never seen again so it's unsure if it was worth it in the end.

Dimitri could do nothing to stop the vicious cycle of the demons because it was the person's choice after all. The demons weren't forcing them, just providing another option.

He knew he had to get out of there so he set on his way to walk pass the tree when one of the voices froze him. It was a voice he knew too well for he had heard it for the past twenty years.

That voice made him lose it when he realized that it was his brother who was talking to a demon. Dimitri didn't think when he launched himself into the tree, interrupting the deal making.

His brother looked at him with the wide eyes of having just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

Dimitri would have taken him by the ear and chastised him like he did when they were little except for the fact that the demon was looking at Dimitri with the smirk of a man who had won.

Dimitri grew cold. He knew that he was too late, he had waited too long and as a result his brother was going to be taken before his eyes.

"Ivan." Dimitri's voice was no louder than a whisper, but the pain in his voice from that one whispered name was enough to crack tears in Ivan's eyes.

"Brother please you must understand, my wife, you know how sick she is, she's going to die. Dimitri look at me." Ivan sobbed. He clutched Dimitri's tunic and forced him to look at him, and what Dimitri saw in his brothers eyes was enough to make him quake. The desperation in his eyes was maddening.

The two brothers looked at one another. Ivan recognize the resignation that passed over Dimitri.

Ivan became relieved that his older brother recognized the necessity for his sacrifice. His wife Ann was going to die if he did not do this. He only pitied that he would not be there to see her get well again.

As if becoming aware that the two brothers had ceased their silent argument the demon began to speak with a latin tongue. His voice became demonic, it was no longer that of a man's, but seemed to come straight out of any brave man's nightmare. The demon was sealing the final stage of the contract he had over Ivan's soul.

Dimitri could not bare to watch his smaller brothers life get snuffed out. He found himself murmuring that he would do anything to get his brother out of this fate.

Dimitri's surroundings became silent once the final murmur came out of his lips. For one wild moment he thought that the deal was done and he would find himself alone in the darkness. But when he looked up he found himself staring into the beady eyes of the demon, who was looking at Dimitri with a lot more calculation than he would have liked.

It was true that Dimitri was taller and broader, more muscular than Ivan. He was the stronger of the two and braver. While Ivam would sell his soul out of desperation, Dimitri would sell it out of love for his brother. The demon could see that Dimitri was the better choice and therefore gave Dimitri one small signal with his eyes.

Dimitri immediately recognized the gleam in the demon's eye and made the quickest and most life changing choice. He nodded to the demon to let him know that he accepts the shackles of being a demon's personal caretaker. And then he looked at his brother for it was all for him.

After all Dimitri didn't have a wife so he wouldn't have a woman to cry for him. All he had was his brother and his brother's wife. It seemed like a fair deal to give up his eternity for the people he cared for most. They would live a happy life now thanks to him.

The demon continued the ending ritual with his foul tongue and only them two knew of the new arrangement. Ivan was still clueless and Dimitri looked at him respectfully because he saw his brother raise his head high in some brave farewell.

And what a farewell it was only it wasn't Ivan but Dimitri who left, leaving Ivan with grief over his brothers loss.

Ivan found himself alone once the final words were uttered by the demon. Bewildered he realized what his brother had done for him.

With a heavy heart Ivan went back with his wife who was cured miraculously. Yet Ivan could not forget the sacrifice that his brother did. He attempted to corner a demon to force them out of the whereabouts of his brother but they all seemed to have disappeared from one day to the next.

Jamestown had been rid of the demons, the cause of which was unknown to the colony.

Ivan spent many years wondering about his brother, but the job of parenthood kept him busy. He would always thank his lucky stars for having had Dimitri as a brother.

All the while a great disturbance, unknown to the people of the living world, was going on in the cemetery of Jamestown, Virginia. A portal constructed from the labors of the soulless opened to reveal a passage to hell.

The portal in need of a keeper was appointed a guardian to guard whoever came in and out of it for all eternity. The job required someone strong and not easily broken.

It was a pity that Ivan could not realize that his brother was only a few minutes away, but the dealings of the underworld were unnoticed to the unobservant living.

So it became that a certain demon's caretaker became chosen to be portal keeper, at least for a while. His job was, after all, chosen for him when the demon saw the bravery that Dimitri carried in his heart.


End file.
